Today, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Affairs, Amie Grills, tells students to be thoughtful in completing their Hub requirements and to consider the myriad dynamic opportunities across BU when selecting courses. “Challenge yourself to try something different or that seems far outside your wheelhouse but interests you—you might find that you actually love it!”

But what exactly is the Hub, and what led the University to launch it? BU Today answers those questions and more, below.

What is the Hub?

It is BU’s University-wide general education curriculum, created to ensure that all undergraduates, regardless of major, develop six essential capacities.

What are those six essential capacities?

Philosophical, aesthetic, and historical interpretation; scientific and social inquiry; quantitative reasoning; diversity, civic engagement, and global citizenship; communication; and the “intellectual toolkit,” which includes skills like critical thinking, teamwork/collaboration, and research and information literacy.

Why is the Hub important?

According to its website, the Hub and its capacities “expose students to a broad range of knowledge and disciplines; cultivate a set of widely applicable habits of mind; equip students to engage with complexity, diversity, and change; develop the ability to apply knowledge in diverse settings; [and] encourage a sense of social responsibility and engage citizenship.”

How do students fulfill the Hub requirements?

Students choose from among more than 1900 courses, across BU’s 12 undergraduate schools and colleges, that fulfill “units” in each of the six capacities. Most students will fulfill the Hub requirements in 10 to 12 classes. Hub courses also can count toward a major or minor.

Who must take Hub classes?

All students entering the University must fulfill the Hub requirements. First-year entering students complete the full number of requirements while transfer students complete a modified version, with fewer requirements. The Hub is meant to be woven throughout the years of a student’s undergraduate career.

In the Hub, students can pursue their interests by taking courses across BU’s 12 undergraduate schools and colleges as they fulfill their general education requirements. How students experience learning in the Hub is up to them—the program is designed to integrate with a student’s major studies while encouraging exploration.

List of all of the courses

Delve into some of the participants’ research in a variety of fields. Students share what UROP helped them achieve, and some advice for those ready to embark on their own research projects.

View all student spotlights

In her new job, which started September 1, 2021, Grills provides leadership on core academic efforts – from innovative curriculum development to engagement with high impact practices and honors programming – working closely with all of Boston University’s schools and colleges to promote collaboration and strengthen the undergraduate experience. She oversees various aspects of Undergraduate Affairs, including the BU Hub, the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), Kilachand Honors College, Academic Advising, the Educational Resource Center, and in collaboration with the associate provost for digital learning and innovation, the BU Center for Teaching & Learning. Grills brings a student-centered approach to her work as associate provost, and one of her primary goals is increasing all of our students’ access to the numerous experiences and exciting opportunities of a research university.

Grills is also a Professor of Counseling Psychology & Applied Human Development in BU’s Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Prior to her appointment as Associate Provost of Undergraduate Affairs, she was Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and Associate Dean of Research in Wheelock. Before her arrival at BU in 2013, Grills was a faculty member in the Psychology Department in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and Director of the Center for Anxiety and Depressive Disorders in Youth at the University of Houston.

Grills is a clinical psychologist by training who specializes in anxiety, trauma, depression, and behavioral difficulties (particularly in children), as well as the development and evaluation of cognitive-behavioral assessments and interventions, including those conducted using web-based designs. Her research has been continually supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, and she has published three books and over 50 manuscripts in peer-refereed journals. She has been nationally recognized for her work, with awards from the American Psychological Association (fellow), the Association for Psychological Science, the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, and the Association for the Advancement of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. A dedicated teacher, Grills received BU’s United Methodist Scholar/Teacher of the Year (now the University Provost’s Scholar-Teacher of the Year) award in 2017. She holds both an MS and PhD in Clinical Psychology from Virginia Tech and an AB from Smith College.

View the nearly 40 images of highlights from the three-year project