Nominations Open for Inaugural HIPS Council

The newly formed HIPS Council is inviting nominations from across campus to fill its 24 vacant seats. Faculty, staff and students across campus interested in promoting high-impact practices (HIPs) are invited to nominate themselves or a colleague for a spot on the council.

HIPs have grown in prevalence and popularity on campus since July 2018, when a campus group led by Deb Korth, assistant dean of student success for Fulbright College, and Brande Flack, former director of Retention Programs for the Center for Multicultural and Diversity Education, hosted the Are We HIP Enough? retreat. Since then, Korth; Toby Phebus, assistant director of retention for Fulbright College; and a team of volunteers have grown the retreat and turned it into an anticipated annual event over the summer. Faculty and staff working with HIPs have also attended various conferences and training sessions to learn more about transforming campus into an institution that effectively leverages HIPs to drive success outcomes.

As HIP programming has grown across campus, student success leaders now see the need to create a cross-campus committee to increase awareness of and share best practices for HIPs on campus. With this goal in mind, the committee will be composed of two representatives from each of the 11 HIPs plus wellness for a total of 24 members, in addition to Korth and Trevor Francis, who will serve as the inaugural co-chairs of the committee. These HIP areas include:

• First Year Seminars
• Common Intellectual Experiences
• Learning Communities
• Collaborative Assignments and Projects
• Writing Intensive Courses
• Undergraduate Research
• Diversity/Global Learning
• ePortfolios
• Service Learning, Community-Based Learning
• Internships
• Capstone Courses and Projects
• Wellness

Once established, the committee will meet once a semester. Members will share their insights on how HIPs are being used on campus, discuss plans for increasing HIPs across campus and plan upcoming events.

"Given the positive response to our past events and the growing prevalence of HIPs on campus, we believe it's time to have a more formalized group in place to share what is happening on campus with HIPs and promote best practices," Korth said. "This will be a chance for colleagues and students to share more about what is happening in their areas as it pertains to HIPs, learn about other HIPs and become a champion for practices that lead to better teaching and learning outcomes." 

All full-time and part-time faculty and staff are invited to self-nominate or nominate a colleague, and students are welcome to apply as well. Those interested in applying or nominating a colleague can do so at https://bit.ly/3JLXhGm.