High-Impact Educational Practice Program Proposal Application

Individually or in pairs, you will develop a program proposal advocating for the development of a
HIP for a particular functional area, department, program, course, etc. The following should
guide the development of your program proposal.

Disclaimer: These are guidelines for this assignment. The Division of Student Affairs and
Enrollment Management at NIU is not accepting applications for funding. This is a hypothetical
situation to provide CAHA 590-01 students the opportunity to develop a program proposal, thus
demonstrating the ability to apply theory to practice.
Department: Asian American Resource Center

Contact Names: Jessica Hing and Jency Thomas

Title of Project: OHANA+

Timeline: Applications are due 10/18.

Funding: Before completing this section, see Appendix A for a detailed list of funding criteria.
Include any relevant documentation used to calculate the projected project cost with your HIEP
Funding Application. The funding portion of your application includes two sections: 1)
completing the brief section below about years of funding and amounts per year and 2)
attaching a detailed budget for the project.
Part 1
For how many years will you be requesting funding?
1 year

2 years

Year 1

Amount requested from HIEP

Funding: $2,000

Projected Contribution from

Department: $3,000

Projected Contribution from Other Alumni Association:

Sources: $2,000

Total Projected Project Cost (Year $ 7,000

1):

Year 2 (If applicable)

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 Requested from HIEP Funding: $2,000

Project Contribution from $3,000

Department:

Projected Contribution from Other $2,000

Sources:

Total Projected Project Cost (Year $7,000

2):

Describe to what extent your department could contribute and/or raise more funding if it was
necessary.
The Asian American Resource Center has a limited budget to contribute to the
OHANA+, therefore $3,000 is the maximum the center can provide at this time. Students
who utilize the center; can raise money through bake sales, events or by reaching out to
alumni to donate if necessary. Money would be utilized for marketing the program
(website, flyers, chalking), catering food, room reservations, transportation, scholarships,
and equipment fees (microphone/projector).

Part 2
I have attached a detailed budget for the project.

Project Overview:
Please provide a detailed description of the project, including: an explanation of why it is
important to the NIU community, a timeline for implementation, how you plan to integrate this
program into current operations (e.g., how current staffing and operations will need to be
adjusted if the project is funded), how it aligns with the Mission and Core Values of the Division
of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, and any other information that will help the
selection committee determine the outcome of your application.
Description: In an effort to actively build collaborative relationships among NIU Alumni
and students currently enrolled, the OHANA+ program will provide a space for students
to network, integrate the classroom with real world experiences through internships
opportunities in addition to having a mentor who will guide and be a resource. Students
may enroll for OHANA+, which will connect them to a student who was affiliated with the
Asian American Resource Center(AARC) during their undergrad. Affiliation includes:
OHANA! Peer Mentor Program, student employment at the AARC, AARC intern and/or
member of any student organization affiliated with the center. With a large number of
alumni in various areas of employment to call on, partnering a student to the alumni will
offer a partnership focused on student learning through internships. In addition to
internship opportunities, students and alumni will attend monthly workshops to network
with others in a professional setting.

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Timeline:
October 2015: 1) Begin reconnecting with alumni, ask them to join the program. Make
connections through e-mail, phone calls and letters. Gather information about alumni
willing to mentor such as area of employment, undergrad degree, hobbies, interest etc.
Online forms will be available for alumni to sign-up. 2) Market program to all students.
Target students who are currently enrolled as mentors and proteges in the OHANA!
Peer Mentor Program. Students can sign up at niu.edu.aarc

November 2015: Select dates and times for OHANA+ Kick-Off Event, monthly
workshops, and end of the year recognition event.

December: 1) Match alumni with students. 2) Provide contact information to both parties
3) Make Spring 2016 calendar of events available. 4) Send out invites for kick-off in
January

January 2016: Assess initial contacts through assessments sent via e-mail. Reassign
alumni/students if needed.

April 2016: Assess program effectiveness.

March 2016: Repeat process of recruitment for Fall 2016.

Staffing: This program will be headed by one of the three graduate assistants currently
at the AARC. Graduate assistant will track alumni and students who enroll in the
program, lead assessments and plan events. Prior responsibilities will be redistributed
between to the graduate assistants to evenly balance the workload. All AARC
professional staff are expected to be at events pertaining to the program to assist with
check-in, presentations, clean-up etc.

Connection to The Division:

In alliance with the mission of The Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment
Management, OHANA+ provides students with learning opportunities beyond the
classroom that inspire and support intellectual, personal and civic growth for leadership
in a diverse and complex world. Partnering with alumni to focus on student learning
thought internships, would meet two of the four core values held by the division.

What are the goal(s) for the project?

The goals and objectives of OHANA+ are:
To reconnect alumni to the NIU community

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Students to see alumni with similar backgrounds be successful in the workplace.
Align with President Bakers mission to connect every student to a mentor and
experience an internship during their undergraduate career.
Provide students with the opportunity to seek mentoring and internships.
Develop students professionally, to be leaders in their careers.

Please provide a thorough list of expected collaborators (departmental, divisional, institutional,

academic, students, or community) and their projected role in this project. The size of the
award may be influenced by the number of collaborators.
A few collaborators throughout this program would be:
Career Services: Through this collaboration students enrolled in OHANA+ would earn
credit on their transcript for their internship. Career Services could also speak on a
different topic each month regarding professional development for students and alumni.
Students can utilize career services by reviewing their resumes, rehearsing for interviews
and connecting internship experiences to skills employers seek.
Alumni Association: Collaborate by sharing alumni information and making referrals to
OHANA+. Have collaborative events with the Student-Alumni Mentor program.
Orientation: This program can be promoted during the summer at new student
orientation. There are several pamphlets and booklets printed with various programs NIU
offers and can include OHANA+. AARC staff can encourage new students to sign up
during Northern Neighborhoods.
Other Cultural Centers: As this program grows, it can be offered through all the cultural
centers to all students utilizing the centers.
Chandelier Catering: The Chandelier Room located in Adams Hall would serve as a
space for alumni and students to meet. The hall also provides food catering, round
tables, chairs, projector and microphones. These are all required for the monthly
meetings as well as additional events.

Effective Educational Practices: The following are the five clusters of effective educational
practice as identified by Kuh & Associates from the National Survey of Student Engagement
(NSSE). See Appendix B for a brief description of each cluster.

To which of the following areas of effective educational practice will the project contribute?
(While more than one area of practice may apply to the project, please select only one primary
area of practice.)
Level of Academic Challenge

Active and Collaborative Learning

Student-Faculty Interaction

Enriching Educational Experiences

Supportive Campus Environment

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How will the project contribute to this area of effective educational practice?
This project will allow students to actively build collaborative relationships with NIU
Alumni that will support intellectual, personal, and civic growth for leadership in the real
world.

High-Impact Educational Practices and the Major Tasks: The following list of ten activities
supports effective educational practice. See Appendix C for a brief description of each practice.
Each of these practices incorporates strategies that make them high-impact. Dr. George Kuh
(Student Affairs Cabinet Retreat Presentation, July 2012) noted that the major tasks we need
to focus on are to 1) Reflect, 2) Integrate, and 3) Apply. These elements can help shape which
high-impact educational practices departments or areas will focus on for their project.
Note: For many of the high-impact activities listed below, departments will need to collaborate
with other university areas in order to achieve the intended outcome of the project.
Collaborations with others in the Division or with others in the university are encouraged and
supported as long as all partners in the project have an active role in the implementation and
success of the project.

Which of the following activities will your program incorporate as a primary practice?
First-Year Seminars and Experiences

Common Intellectual Experiences

Learning communities

Writing-Intensive Courses

Collaborative Assignments and Projects

Undergraduate Research

Diversity/Global Learning

Service Learning, Community-Based Learning

Internships

Capstone Courses and Projects

Other (please specify):

_______________________________________________________

How will the high-impact educational practice(s) (and/or the major tasks (i.e. reflection,
integration, and application) be incorporated as a primary activity of the project?
Alumni mentors participating in this program will provide students with their knowledge
from both their undergraduate and professional experiences. Students will then be able
to share commonalities between themselves and their mentors. They can reflect on
these experiences and be able to integrate them into practice. Students will then be able

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to apply what they learn from their mentor in order to succeed at NIU and beyond.

Strategic Planning Goals:

Which of the following strategic planning goal(s) does the project support? (Check all that
apply.)
Holistic Personal Development

Inclusive Community

Professional Identity & Acumen

Student Engagement

Sustainability & Fiscal Responsibility

Recruitment

Retention

Facilities & Capacity

Marketing & Branding

How does the project support the strategic planning goal(s) identified above?
Professional Identity and Acumen: OHANA+ offers students the opportunity to be
actively engaged in connecting what they learn in the classroom to the real world through
internship experiences. Students will construct a professional resume, elevator speech,
go through an interview.
Student Engagement: Engages students outside of the classroom through internships
and workshops.
Retention: Students who are actively engaged in a HIP, are more likely to persist
through graduation. An internship can give students a glimpse of the real world that lies
ahead of them, and have them excited to continue to learn in classes that lead to
graduation. Alumni also provide students with advice and coaching as needed. Together
they will work toward common goals shared at the start of their interactions.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Which of the following student learning outcomes does the project support? (Check all that
apply.)
Learning Reconsidered

Cognitive Complexity

Knowledge Acquisition, Integration & Application

Humanitarianism

Civic Engagement

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 Inter/Intrapersonal Competence

Practical Competence

Persistence & Academic Achievement

Baccalaureate Goals

Creativity

Communication

Critical Thinking

How does the project support the student learning outcome(s) identified above?
Knowledge acquisition: Alumni can provide a brief overview of what students can
expect to learn through the internship. To measure knowledge acquisition assessments
will be done prior to the beginning of the internship to measure the level of students
familiarity/knowledge of points highlighted by the alumni.
Inter/Intra Competence: Through the program students will conduct several self
reflections, create and pursue goals. Students will critically explore various careers and
see if it is a good fit for them, allowing for the student to learn more about themselves
and how they fit in with the world.
Persistence and Academic Achievement: Internships will allow students to use what
they learned in the real world and use that as a base for what they might learn in the
classroom. In contrast, students can also apply what they learn in the classroom to real
world situations. Internship experiences gives students a chance to explore their career
path and look forward to life after graduation. Therefore the goal of graduation becomes
even more enticing.

What are the targets/outcomes for this project and how would they be measured?
Students will develop their communication skills as the network with alumni, students
and staff they encounter at internship sites. Additionally workshops will address how to
effectively communicate in a professional setting. Internships sites can require the
student to think critically when completing tasks.

Appendix A: DEEP Funding Criteria

The Division of Student Affairs commits to establish a central fund from which departments
can make requests in order to fund HIEP programs or practices. Funding may be received for
new or expanded programs and programs for which previous funding has been significantly
reduced or eliminated.

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 The total DEEP Project funding will be a $20,000$ 40,000 annually for a period of at least
5 years depending on available funds and requests made.
Funding will be available for two years per project, depending on funding.
Departments must contribute or secure funding from other areas as part of the funding and
indicate that on their application.
Departments with a greater ability to fund a larger portion of the program from departmental
funds should be reflected in their application.
Once funding is approved, departments are responsible for obtaining all quotes, requesting
services, and preparing and submitting paperwork on a timely basis.
If a department goes over their request, a chargeback for the difference will occur.
Future funding, beyond the initial two-year commitment, will be based on outcomes achieved
and funding available.

(Please note that these are guidelines for this assignment. The Division of Student Affairs and
Enrollment Management at NIU is not accepting applications for funding. This is a hypothetical
situation to provide CAHA 590-01 students the opportunity to develop a program proposal, thus
demonstrating the ability to apply theory to practice.)

Appendix B: Clusters of Effective Educational Practice

Level of Academic Challenge
Challenging intellectual and creative work is central to student learning and collegiate quality.
Colleges and universities promote high levels of student achievement by emphasizing the
importance of academic effort and setting high expectations for student performance. (p. 177)

This may include the following: setting high expectations for student performance; extensive
writing, reading and class preparation; rigorous culminating experience for seniors; and,
celebrations of scholarship.

Active and Collaborative Learning

Students learn more when they are intensely involved in their education and have opportunities
to think about and apply what they are learning in different settings. Furthermore, when students
collaborate with others in solving problems or mastering difficult material, they acquire valuable
skills that prepare them to deal with the messy, unscripted problems they will encounter in the
real world. (p. 193)

This may include the following: learning to learn actively; learning from peers; learning in
communities; serving and learning in the local community; and, responding to diverse learning
styles.

Student-Faculty Interaction
Students learn firsthand how to think about and solve practical problems by interacting with
faculty inside and outside of classrooms. As a result, teachers become role models, mentors
and guides for lifelong learning. (p. 207)

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This may include the following: accessible and responsive faculty; academic advising;
undergraduate research; and, electronic technologies.

Enriching Educational Experiences

Complementary learning opportunities inside and outside classrooms augment academic
programs. Experiencing diversity teaches students valuable things about themselves and other
cultures. Used appropriately, electronic technologies facilitate learning and promote
collaboration between students and instructors. Internships, community service, and senior
capstone courses provide opportunities for students to synthesize, integrate, and apply
knowledge. (p. 219)

This may include the following: infusion of diversity experiences; international and study abroad;
electronic technologies; civic engagement; internships and educational learning; and co-
curricular leadership.

Supportive Campus Environment

Student perform better and are more satisfied at colleges that are committed to their success
and cultivate positive working and social relations among different groups on campus. (p. 241)

This may include the following: transition programs; advising networks; peer support; multiple
safety nets; special support programs; and, residential environments.

Kuh, G., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J. H., Whitt, E. J., & Associates. (2010). Student
success in college: Creating conditions that matter. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
Bass.

Appendix C: High-Impact Educational Practices

First-Year Seminars and Experiences

Many schools now build into the curriculum first-year seminars or other programs that bring
small groups of students together with faculty or staff on a regular basis. The highest-quality
first-year experiences place a strong emphasis on critical inquiry, frequent writing, information
literacy, collaborative learning, and other skills that develop students intellectual and practical
competencies. First-year seminars can also involve students with cutting-edge questions in
scholarship and with faculty members own research.

Common Intellectual Experiences

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The older idea of a core curriculum has evolved into a variety of modern forms, such as a set
of required common courses or a vertically organized general education program that includes
advanced integrative studies and/or required participation in a learning community. These
programs often combine broad themese.g., technology and society, global interdependence
with a variety of curricular and cocurricular options for students.

Learning Communities
The key goals for learning communities are to encourage integration of learning across courses
and to involve students with 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 learning communities explore a common topic and/or common readings
through the lenses of different disciplines. Some deliberately link liberal arts and professional
courses; others feature service learning.

Writing-Intensive Courses
These courses emphasize writing at all levels of instruction and across the curriculum, including
final-year projects. Students are encouraged to produce and revise various forms of writing for
different audiences in different disciplines. The effectiveness of this repeated practice across
the curriculum has led to parallel efforts in such areas as quantitative reasoning, oral
communication, information literacy, and, on some campuses, ethical inquiry.

Collaborative Assignments and Projects

Collaborative learning combines two key goals: learning to work and solve problems in the
company of others, and sharpening ones own understanding by listening seriously to the
insights of others, especially those with different backgrounds and life experiences. Approaches
range from study groups within a course, to team-based assignments and writing, to
cooperative projects and research.

American Association of Colleges &

Universities. (2008). High-impact
practices. Retrieved from
http://www.aacu.org/leap/hip.cfm

Undergraduate Research
Many colleges and universities are now providing research experiences for students in all
disciplines. Undergraduate research, however, has been most prominently used in science
disciplines. With strong support from the National Science Foundation and the research
community, scientists are reshaping their courses to connect key concepts and questions with
students early and active involvement in systematic investigation and research. The goal is to
involve students with actively contested questions, empirical observation, cutting-edge
technologies, and the sense of excitement that comes from working to answer important
questions.

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Diversity/Global Learning
Many colleges and universities now emphasize courses and programs that help students
explore cultures, life experiences, and worldviews different from their own. These studies
which may address U.S. diversity, world cultures, or bothoften explore difficult differences
such as racial, ethnic, and gender inequality, or continuing struggles around the globe for
human rights, freedom, and power. Frequently, intercultural studies are augmented by
experiential learning in the community and/or by study abroad.

Service Learning, Community-Based Learning

In these programs, field-based experiential learning with community partners is an instructional
strategyand often a required part of the course. The idea is to give students direct experience
with issues they are studying in the curriculum and with ongoing efforts to analyze and solve
problems in the community. A key element in these programs is the opportunity students have to
both apply what they are learning in real-world settings and reflect in a classroom setting on
their service experiences. These programs model the idea that giving something back to the
community is an important college outcome, and that working with community partners is good
preparation for citizenship, work, and life.

Internships
Internships are another increasingly common form of experiential learning. The idea is to
provide students with direct experience in a work settingusually related to their career
interestsand to give them the benefit of supervision and coaching from professionals in the
field. If the internship is taken for course credit, students complete a project or paper that is
approved by a faculty member.

Capstone Courses and Projects

Whether theyre called senior capstones or some other name, these culminating experiences
require students nearing the end of their college years to create a project of some sort that
integrates and applies what theyve learned. The project might be a research paper, a
performance, a portfolio of best work, or an exhibit of artwork. Capstones are offered both in
departmental programs and, increasingly, in general education as well.

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