High-Impact Practices Mini Conference

The Future of High Impact Practices: Making U-M an Experiential Learning Campus

Date: March 10, 2026

Time: 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Location: Michigan League Ballroom

Overview:
The Future of High-Impact Practices Mini Conference will bring together faculty, staff, and campus partners to examine how high-impact practices, including research, internships, capstone projects, study abroad, and community engagement, contribute to student learning and success at the University of Michigan.

This event is part of the Life-Changing Education Theme Year’s Campus of the Future offerings, designed to ask how we design learning environments for what comes next. Organized in partnership with the U-M Student Success Initiative, we use a mini conference format as both a working convening and a shared reflection space: an opportunity for the U-M community to begin to examine assumptions, connect research to practice, and consider how high-impact practices – at scale – shape student success. Participants will engage with field-shaping ideas, interact with colleagues across campus, and contribute insights that inform our ongoing efforts to design learning experiences for the future.

Above all, we want to tackle the “you can’t do that at Michigan, we’re too big” response, with which many of us are greeted when exploring the possibilities for the future. Through coordination and robust collaborations – and with the assistance of educational technology tools and an inspiring vision – we can transform ourselves into an experiential learning campus, scaling high-impact practices and centering hands-on approaches to real-world problem solving.

Keynote

Keynote remarks will be delivered by Jillian Kinzie, Associate Director, National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), Center for Postsecondary Research, Indiana University School of Education, and author of Radical Reimagining for Student Success in Higher Education and Delivering on the Promise of High-Impact Practices Research and Models for Achieving Equity, Fidelity, Impact, and Scale. She will reflect on the history of HIPs and on practices that can better serve today’s – and tomorrow’s – students, as well the need to center evidence, experience, and institutional responsibility in our design processes.

In Response

Following the keynote address we’ll invite responses from scholars and practitioners in three areas: undergraduate research, internships and career preparation, and explorations of ways of better documenting experiential learning on co-curricular transcripts.

• “The UROP Center Model: From Initiative to Infrastructure” organized by UROP members Michelle Ferréz, Director of UROP and Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Research & Student Success; Raúl Gámez, Associate Director of Mentor Engagement; and Charmise Knox, Academic Program Manager. Given the U-M’s size and UROP’s reputation as a national leader, we can directly challenge the "we’re too big" skepticism. UROP is the perfect case study for how a large and decentralized institution can maintain fidelity and equity while scaling HIPs. Since UROP was elevated to a Center for Research, Scholarly and Creative Inquiry as of July 1, 2025, this institutional upgrade to U-M’s academic infrastructure provides "proof of concept" for overcoming the "too big" myth. As a Center, UROP is now a university-wide strategic asset with central resources for both UM research mentors and UM undergraduate student researchers.

• Expanding Access to Internships and Innovative Experiential Learning, organized by LSA UGED members Paul Barron, Director of Learning, Data & Assessment; Amber Strickland, Managing Director of the LSA Opportunity Hub; and Joslyn Johnson, Assistant Dean of Student Development and Career Initiatives. This response will spotlight the partnership with Podium and introduce The Michigan Global Career Accelerator through ALA 265 (housed within the Hub). The need for relevant real-time experience is increasing in our competitive job market, and students are feeling the pressure of finding the right internship and experiences to best prepare for the quickly evolving workforce. Podium provides a unique – and scalable – opportunity for students to develop new skill sets, engage with top companies through projects globally, and receive developmental feedback.

• Documenting Student Experience: The U-M Co-Curricular Transcript Project, organized by Morgan Yuncker, AVP for Domestic Engagement, Engaged Learning and Global Engagement, Kathleen England, EdS, Engaged Learning Project Manager, and Mika LaVaque-Manty, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, LSA Political Science and Co-chair, Campus of the Future. This response will introduce and explore the U-M Co-Curricular Transcript (CCT): an official university document created to recognize transformative experiences beyond the classroom, highlighting significant university-sponsored activities—such as research, internships, study abroad, and community service—that enrich students’ lives, foster personal growth, and prepare Wolverines for their next steps after graduation. Several university offices participated in the pilot phase launched in Fall 2025, with the first transcripts becoming available in Spring 2026. The CCT provides students with a valuable tool to document and communicate the full scope of their Michigan experience, supporting future opportunities and illustrating the benefits of engaged and experiential learning.

Post-Presentation Discussion Moderated By: Demetri Morgan, Associate Professor of Education, Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, Marsal Family School of Education; Faculty Director, Life Changing Education Theme Year.

In Conversation

After the formal presentations and Q&A, you are invited to participate in a networking reception and share your thoughts on where U-M is currently excelling and where there is room to grow as an experiential learning campus.