High-Impact Practices (HIPs) at NIU
First Year Seminars and Experiences

NIU’s First- and Second-Year Experience (FSYE) helps freshmen, sophomores,
and transfer students by implementing and supporting programming that ensures
student academic, personal, social, and career success.
Common Intellectual Experiences


NIU’s Common Reading Experience as part of UNIV 101/201, typically explore
universal themes of identity, gender, race, ethnicity, and civic responsibility that
contribute to students' academic and social development.
Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability & Energy (ESE) fosters
interdisciplinary research, education, and community engagement to promote
understanding of the environment and the development of creative and effective
solutions to environmental and sustainability issues.
Learning Communities


Themed Learning Communities consist of two or three interdisciplinary courses
taken in conjunction to analyze themes and connections for an integrative learning
experience.
Living-Learning Communities are part of the Division of Student Affairs and
Enrollment Management -- the goal is to strengthen connections between students
and faculty within their course of study.
Writing-Intensive Courses


Writing Across the Curriculum is a pedagogical movement based on the premise
that students learn critical thinking best when they actively engage in the subject
matter of a course through writing.
NIU’s Writing Across the Curriculum and the Faculty Development and
Instructional Design Center co-sponsor Designing a Writing-Enhanced Course,
which is offered each May as a day-long workshop for faculty to incorporate
writing and critical thinking into their courses.
Collaborative Assignments and Projects


The Course Transformation Project, part of the Vision 2020 initiative, assisted
faculty with transforming courses to enable students to learn in challenging and
diverse environments.
The Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center’s Teaching with
Blackboard site offers faculty and staff resources on how to build communication
and collaboration into courses.
Undergraduate Research


Research Rookies links undergraduate first-year, sophomore, and transfer
students with faculty mentors in their major or area of interest to conduct smallscale research projects.
Undergraduate Special Opportunities in Artistry & Research program (USOAR)
is a program for students from all colleges, departments, and majors that funds
student-generated research projects on campus, somewhere else in the United
States, or overseas.
Teaching with Technology Institute – Technologies for High-Impact Practices
Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, June 4, 2015
NOTES
Diversity / Global Learning



NIU Study Abroad program provides students from any major opportunities to
study short-term (10 days) to a full academic year in 75 different countries.
NIU’s Academic Diversity Programs help students to increase their cultural
awareness, knowledge, and sensitivity toward others through studies that focus on
different ethnicities, gender identity, and other cultures.
International Education Week is an annual event that celebrates international
education at NIU and typically takes place each November.
Service Learning, Community-Based Learning


Office of Student Engagement and Experiential Learning (OSEEL) gets students
involved with the community through service programs.
Several colleges, departments, and units include experiential-, service-, and
community-based learning experiences including the College of Business,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Digital Convergence Lab.
Internships


NIU Career Services offers many resources (Huskies Get Hired!) and events to
connect students with internship and co-op opportunities in order to gain realworld experiences.
Many departments require and/ or make available direct work experiences to
students before they graduate.
Capstone Courses and Projects


Many departments include capstone courses and projects as part of their
curriculum such as the Comprehensive Exam-Portfolio from the Department of
Educational Technology, Research and Assessment in the College of Education.
Included in this high-impact practice are portfolios, which are valuable at many
stages of a student’s academic career.
NIU's campus-wide electronic portfolio (ePortfolio) initiative supports and
connects students by integrating general education and baccalaureate goals with
authentic assessment and career preparation.
Six Attributes of Effective HIP Programs






Students spend considerable amounts of time on meaningful tasks.
Faculty and student peers interact about substantive matters.
Students experience diversity through contact with people who are different than
themselves.
Students receive frequent performance feedback.
Activities have applications to different settings on/off campus.
Authentic connections are made with peers, faculty, community, and/or the
university.
Revised May 27, 2015
Teaching with Technology Institute – Technologies for High-Impact Practices
Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, June 4, 2015
NOTES