Strategic Priority

Increase support to students and faculty for proven, high-value student experiences that improve graduation rates, such as study abroad, summer research, internships, and mentoring.

 

Vision Statement

Achieve excellence in UIW’s undergraduate educational program by providing students several High Impact Educational Practices (HIEP) options as part of their academic experience.

Definition

High Impact Educational Practices (HIEP) are evidence-based strategies that engage and challenge students in ways that develop their self-awareness and ability to deal with complexity, diversity, and change. HIEPs are embedded in a liberal education to provide students with broad knowledge of the world as well as in-depth study of a specific area of interest. “A liberal education helps students develop a sense of social responsibility, as well as strong and transferable intellectual and practical skills such as communication, analytical and problem-solving skills, and a demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings.” (American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)

Strategic Goals

Goal 1

Implement a First Year Experience Seminar (FYES) for all first-time-in-college matriculating students (through the FLIGHT Title V Project)​

Goal 2

Expand (or develop) Experiential Learning Opportunities​
  • Learning Communities​
  • Service Learning​
  • Internships​
  • Undergraduate Research​

Goal 1: First Year Experience Seminar through FLIGHT

Establish a FLIGHT Mentoring Center to implement a mentoring program that affords students access to mentors to guide them to graduation with a developed academic and financial plan​

  • FLIGHT Mentors complete a certification training course-led by members of the FLIGHT faculty Advisory Board and the Director of the FLIGHT Mentor Center. Training consists of four modules: Understanding the UIWMission, Financial Literacy, Student Success and Effective ​
  • Certified FLIGHT Mentors are trained to mentor students "in their space" -in other words, create mentor moments in the classroom, offices or in other direct interventions with In addition, mentors submit a formal plan of how they will intentionally mentor students on the pathway to graduation and into professional programs.​​
  • Certified Mentors gather regularly in various formats/groups to share and learn from each other on best practices/lesson learned from mentoring opportunities with our ​students. 
  • A Faculty Advisory Board (FAB) with representatives from each school/college on the Broadway campus meets monthly to review the data and progress of the mentor program as well as leads the trainings and professional development for the mentor program.
    ​

Establish a First Year Experience course taught by FLIGHT-certified faculty with embedded FLIGHT-certified peer mentors​

  • All courses are taught by FLIGHT-certified faculty. In addition, the Coordinator of the FYES courses, Dr. Emily Clark, conducts regular workshops and professional development for the faculty teaching the course.​
  • Embedded FLIGHT Peer Mentors are also FLIGHT certified and meet regularly with faculty teaching the FYES course as well as the coordinator of the FLIGHT Peer Mentor Program/director of FLIGHT Mentor Center.​
  • An FYES Faculty Advisory Board, with representation of each of the schools and colleges on Broadway Campus, meets regularly to review curriculum and data related to the FYES courses and makes recommendations on curriculum and/or other updates to the FYES course.


Establish a Health Professions Pathway guided by a FLIGHT Mentor who works with the Health Professions Advisory Council comprised of undergraduate faculty and mentors who support the pre-health academic programs at UIW​​

  • Health Professions FLIGHT Mentor/Advisor advises more than 500 pre-health students​
  • Health Professions Advisor prepares and monitors individual pathway plans for pre-health students: plans include co-curricular and curricular guidelines and benchmarks. ​
  • FLIGHT Workshops/Support for students: Application Workshops, Professional Development, GRE/MCAT/DAT information, Committee/Faculty Letter Requests, Financial Literacy/Planning. ​
  • A Health Professions Advisory Council (HPAC) comprised of faculty members from biology, chemistry, psychology, and health professions meets regularly to review data, recommend curriculum and other updates for pre-health mentoring. HPAC also meets as a committee to interview and prepare committee recommendation letters for candidates to professional health programs. 100% of students who received an HPAC committee letter in 2023 and 2024 were admitted to medical or dental school.​

Goal 2: Expand Experiential Learning Opportunities (ELO)

Implement enhanced Experiential Learning Opportunities (ELOs) for all students.

ELOs encompass a variety of activities including internships, service learning, undergraduate research, study abroad, simulations, and other creative and professional work experiences. ​

Rationale: Well-planned, supervised and assessed ELO programs stimulate academic inquiry by promoting interdisciplinary learning, civic engagement, career development, cultural awareness, leadership, and other professional and intellectual skills. A key element of experiential learning is guided reflection of the experience which deepens student understanding.​

 

Increase the number of Learning Communities (LCs) to provide new students this high-impact learning experience.​

The key goal for LCs are to encourage learning integration across multiple courses and to involve students with exploring “big questions” that matter beyond the classroom. Students take two or more linked courses as a group and work closely with one another and with their professors. Many LCs explore a common topic and/or common readings through different discipline lenses. Some deliberately link “liberal arts” and “professional courses”; others feature service learning.
​
Future Objectives​
  • Recruit / designate a LC Coordinator​
  • Secure institutional support for LC Coordinator, LC Showcase, etc. (future direction of LC activity)​
  • Recruit course pairings for future terms​
  • Pilot “integration pairing” (Lewis and McBurnett) for Fall 2025​

 

Increase the number of Service-Learning opportunities for students​​

Completed Objectives​
  • Service Learning (SL) Coding: Determined methods for designating SL courses within the schedule of classes and integration with GivePulse. SL coding system finalized and implemented with weekly report.​
  • Integrated GivePulse with Banner and Canvas​
  • Created Service Learning LibGuide  ​
  • Created initial repository of instructional videos on SL and GivePulse​
  • Initiated active participation with the San Antonio Service-Learning Intercollegiate Collaborative​
  • Created Dorothy Ettling Service Learning Fellowship through the Ettling Center for Civic Leadership and Sustainability​
  • Created co-curricular transcript pilot program with the Feik School of Pharmacy to differentiate between SL courses and general service opportunities for students (Phase I). ​
  • Created Campus-Wide Promotion Process: SL courses and opportunities. ​

 ​

Create a Structured Undergraduate Research Program​

Undergraduate research as a learning activity enriches a student's undergraduate Students report that participation in research, scholarship, or creative activity broadens and deepens their classroom learning and supports the development of a range of skills. While research and creative activity are institutional learning outcomes there is no formal program that supports this activity institution-wide.​

Completed Objectives​
  • Created a working committee​
  • Developed a formal “charge”​
  • Prioritize work activity​
  • Capacity Benchmarking Analysis Report (McAllister & Quinn)​