Building coherence through vertical integration of high-impact practices across the undergraduate curriculum

Abstract

As campuses invest significant human and fiscal resources to provide support, implement high-impact practices (IHPs), and create meaningful learning opportunities for students from orientation to graduation, there is a need to create a seamless approach to the administration of HIPs across the undergraduate experience. A truly integrated approach to support structures, curriculum, and pedagogical practices has the potential to increase the relevance, accessibility, and effectiveness of HIPs for students; streamline the delivery of services, increase the quality of HIPs, and create economies of scale at the institutional level; and respond to the call to treat high-impact practices "as a set of effective tools rather than as discrete experiences...to conceptualize the collective impact [of] these practices...on student success and learning" (Finley & McNair, 2013, p. 1). This session draws upon national data and institutional case studies that highlight the connections between HIPs toward the creation of a coherent and integrated institutional approach to enhance student transition, learning, development, and success.