Highlights of Past LEAP Teams

2011 LEAP Teams: 17 Teams

  • Admissions/Registrar’s
  • Registrar’s Office incorporated LEAP into student workers training.
  • Incorporating LEAP into campus assistants (tour guides).
  • PowerPoint presentation delivered at Warhawk Premiere Day will incorporate LEAP.
  • Advising Center
  • Incorporate LEAP into two (Understand General Education Requirements & Be Aware of the Stages and Locations of Advising at UWW) of the four student learning outcomes of the Academic Advising & Exploration Center (AAEC).
  • Biology
  • Discussed LEAP in BIO 141 and Bio 142 and framed lecture and lab assignments in terms of LEAP ELOs. Students completed reflective essay and scaled evaluations.
  • Chemistry
  • In the spring of 2011 faculty will take class time (10-30 minutes) to educate and discuss with students the purpose and importance of a bachelor’s degree.
  • Briefly discuss LEAP in classes and promote ELOs, HIPS, Authentic Assessments, and Inclusive Excellence.
  • Career and Leadership Development
  • Contribute to the general increasing level of student awareness of what a liberal education is and how it can benefit them.
  • Educate student organization advisors about LEAP.
  • Educational Foundation
  • To liberally educate our students so that they can become world-class teachers who liberally educate their own students.
  • Engage students in their own liberal education and introduce them to the concept of education as liberation and empowerment.
  • Integrate LEAP material in the classroom.
  • William Cronon essay “Only Connect” for example.
  • Finance and Business Law
  • Students will be introduced to LEAP in group and individual advising sessions.
  • Faculty encouraged to include learning goals (based on LEAP ELOs) on syllabi.
  • Promote HIPs, namely, internships and undergraduate research.
  • Faculty evaluated the feasibility of providing students with an opportunity to create e-portfolios where students can record the core competencies learned.
  • GERC/GenEd
  • Create a blog titled “Connecting the Core”.
  • Student Voice project.
  • Languages and Literature
  • Update L&L website to improve exchange of ideas between faculty, staff, and students and to use LEAP material to facilitate communication.
  • Goal is to increase faculty commitment about LEAP and advocate for the values of liberal education to our majors and other students who enroll in English and Foreign Language classes.
  • Music
  • Institute Music Major specific session of NEW Student Seminar.
  • LEAP Reflection.
  • Political Science
  • Suggested that instructors use William Cronon’s “Only Connect” article in their classes to discuss the meaning and value of liberal education with students.
  • ELO on syllabi.
  • Ask faculty to discuss LEAP on the first day of class.
  • Help students understand why they are at UW-Whitewater.
  • Office of Recreation Sports and Facilities
  • Talk to students about LEAP Initiative.
  • Hand out LEAP materials to student employees at staff training.
  • Attend the “Capturing the Student Voice Summit”.
  • Students that participated had opportunity to reflect on how they learn.
  • Sociology
  • Publish a student/department newsletter. The first one will include information about the meaning of a liberal education and the meaning of a Sociology Degree.
  • Project included assessment goals and internships too.
  • Student Affairs
  • Instituted conversation with each individual of the unit of Division of Student Affairs to help units better understand LEAP and self-determine LEAP related goals.
  • University Center
  • Major objective regarding LEAP is to help student employees understand the current and future value of their liberal education.
  • Accomplished by incorporating ELOs, PoE, and HIPs of LEAP into University Center processes and daily operations.
  • Help student link what they learn in the classroom to the jobs they perform in the UC; LEAP conversations at bi-weekly and monthly meetings.
  • LEAP student training program.
  • Women Studies
  • Try to create more internship opportunities for students to support HIPs.
  • Internships are important for students and these internships support Inclusive Excellence (IE) goals.
  • Whitewater Student Government
  • Created an Ad-Hoc committee to work on projects and increase LEAP presence.
  • Integrate LEAP into various aspects of Whitewater Student Government.
  • Work on LEAP Day activities.

2012 LEAP Teams: 23 Teams

  • Arts and Communication Internship Team
  • Created a standardized internship program that integrated LEAP ELOs.
  • Develop universal assessment tool given to all interns to aid in reflection, self-evaluation, learning, and evaluation of the internship host.
  • Accounting
  • Goal is to integrate critical thinking and problem-solving skills into the entire accounting curriculum.
  • Advising
  • Developed a pilot Advising Transition program for program for freshmen majoring in math and science who would be transitioning from advising in the AAEC advising to faculty advisors in L&S for the Fall 2012 term. Goals were to provide continuity in advising and to help students reflect on the experiences and knowledge they have already gained as they move into the major. The program was held on April 24th, 5:15-6:15 pm.
  • Andersen Library
  • Created Information Literacy Progression Rubric.
  • Assessment of information literacy along student’s career path.
  • Art
  • During convocation (early Fall 2012) students were exposed to LEAP, which was used to promote HIPs in the department.
  • Budget, Planning & Analysis
  • Objective is to educate the non-academic/non-student affairs staff on LEAP during the Spring Semester 2012 and continue to build on that knowledge in the 2012-13 Academic Year, by providing tools, information and feedback to Directors and their departments and encouraging them to adopt LEAP principles in their interactions with student workers.
  • Communication
  • Initiated Graduate Research Involvement Program (GRIP)
  • Involve focus groups tasked with exploring the Essential Learning Outcomes (ELOs) important to graduate students.
  • Obtain qualitative data describing the essential learning outcomes (ELOs) most valued by graduate students. Essentially, we want to know if students’ expectations for our program match the faculty.
  • Communication Science and Disorders
  • Expand opportunities for more undergraduate experiences; faculty and staff worked towards embracing individual talents to foster success as post-baccalaureate citizens beyond the profession of speech and language pathology.
  • Integrate LEAP into the advising process.
  • Integrate LEAP into senior seminar.
  • CSD
  • Incorporate ELOs and Principles of Excellence into 2012 Summer Transition Program.
  • Improve communication to parents about the value of a four year degree through LEAP brochures and handouts.
  • Incorporate LEAP into Speced 494.
  • Curriculum & Instruction
  • Curriculum redesign project that incorporates LEAP.
  • ePortfolio Project
  • The purpose was to identify a group of students who are willing to develop an electronic portfolio using the Desire to Learn ePortfolio program, then assess student learning as a result of their work developing their own electronic portfolios.
  • Mixed results.
  • Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Coaching
  • Created new courses to meet LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes.
  • ITBE
  • Goal was to profile HIPs that our program was doing and then package and promote finding externally.
  • L&S Dean’s Student Advisory Council
  • Goal was to create another student organization that allows students to directly interact with the LEAP initiative. Students for LEAP (SLEAP).
  • Organization would get the word out to students about the LEAP initiative.
  • Suggested a name change of GenEd to Foundation or Core.
  • Create Amnesty International.
  • Would help broaden the cultural experience on campus.
  • Languages and Literatures
  • Promote critical writing (and reading) skills and to link this work to the assessment of selected LEAP ELOs, with an emphasis which focus on developing critical and creative thinking within written communication.
  • Learning Communities
  • LEAP discussed in a one-credit service learning class.
  • Developed a Service Learning Proposal.
  • Management
  • Develop an e-portfolio so that students can reflect on their total educational experience using LEAP as a framework.
  • New Student Seminar
  • Developed training sessions so that instructors of NSS can integrate LEAP into the class.
  • Psychology
  • Create a Psychology Major Identity Model that will allow students to create a better sense of identity.
  • Integrating LEAP into the syllabus.
  • School of Psychology
  • Enhance students’ ability to personalize and monitor their own progress in their learning.
  • Revised criteria for reflections for first and second-years students.
  • LEAP objectives on syllabus.
  • Social Work
  • LEAP language on syllabus.
  • Talk about LEAP, including HIPs to students.
  • Through a short video.
  • Student Organization.
  • LEAP Flyer.
  • Create a LEAP subcommittee that includes students and faculty.
  • Sociology
  • Include LEAP learning outcomes on syllabus.
  • Student assessment.
  • World of the Arts (Gened 110, WOTA)
  • Make student’s aware of LEAP.
  • Discussion of contemporary issues.

2013 LEAP Teams: 21 Teams

  • Adult Students
  • The goal of this project is to research and build awareness throughout campus about the High-Impact Educational Practices (HIPs) that are most effective and accessible for nontraditional students.
  • CSD
  • Part of project was to gather information about communication and support needs of students so that CSD can implement programming and resources to better support faculty/staff and students.
  • Need better translation of our everyday activities and work into LEAP language.
  • Diversity Leadership
  • Created a Diversity Leadership Certificate.
  • Certificate outcomes based on the Intercultural Knowledge and Competence Value Rubric and LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes.
  • Final Essay requires students’ to address larger question about diversity and their role as a global citizen.
  • Ed Advise
  • Create a page on website that is dedicated to transfer students. Page asks questions about transfer experience.
  • Ed Capacity
  • Not much linked directly to LEAP in action plan. Appears to be using technology to get the word out about LEAP.
  • Good Behavior
  • Goddhue Desk: LEAP Initiative
  • Goal 1: Incorporating LEAP concepts into administrative aspects of the Goodhue Desk.
  • Post a list of ELOs behind desk.
  • Goal 2: Assess current student staff knowledge of LEAP initiatives to get baseline.
  • Goal 3: Incorporate ELOs into management philosophy.
  • Train police/res. Life about LEAP.
  • Goal 4: Improve identity/branding of the Goodhue desk operation on campus.
  • HIP4U
  • The University Honors Program, McNair Scholars Program and Undergraduate Research Program intentionally developed a pipeline for students to be engaged in these programs from freshman year to graduation.
  • All three programs contribute to student success by promoting LEAP.
  • Hyer Ed
  • Apply LEAP initiative through the student employment area.
  • We would like to scale down the University Center’s model to be able to use for these smaller departments. An extension of this goal is to be able to use this model with off-campus employers as well. The model will include a general rubric to assess students’ skills and treat the employment experience more like a mini internship so that students are ready to launch into their next career opportunity.
  • iHub
  • NA.
  • Information Literacy LEAP 2.0
  • The GOALS of the Information Literacy LEAP 2.0 Team are to:
  • Improve the research and writing skill levels of UW-Whitewater students.
  • Create lasting, point-of-need, interactive, appealing, and evidenced-based online instructional tutorials.
  • LEAP Resources
  • Reviewed student positions (i.e. job notices) to summarize job duties and see where LEAP ELOs fit in the announcements.
  • Goal: Use the toolkits developed (brochure, self-evaluation form, evaluation form for supervisors, sample letter of recommendation) to help students build a bridge between education and student employment on campus by using LEAP principles.
  • Licensure Numbers
  • Our LEAP team is creating a standards, and assessment non-instructional licensure/graduate certificate program. While this certification exists “on the books” through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, it is not currently offered by any institutions in Wisconsin.
  • Identify ELOs and HIPs addressed by the program and course.
  • Message Design
  • Create two, one semester internships for students in arts and communications areas of study.
  • Internships allowed students to be employed in the UC and or University Marketing Center and Media Relations. The goal of the program is to build skills students would need in order to apply for a position in a marketing/media department on or off campus.
  • Create LEAP-driven position descriptions and hire students through a process that strives to meet inclusive excellence.
  • Next Teachers
  • To bring LEAP awareness to secondary students and include UW-Whitewater students in promoting the LEAP initiative with future college students.
  • Through feeder schools.
  • To continue building on the student LEAP organization (SLEAP) by collaborating with other LEAP teams to get it officially up and running.
  • Professional Spanish
  • Plan developed to aid Spanish minors in augmenting the value and marketability of their language minor through increased participation in experiences deemed to be high impact practices.
  • Retention Stars
  • Advancing LEAP to minority students through advising, workshops, King Chavez and Future Teacher Program, summer seminars and other programs.
  • Social Media and Awareness Team
  • The Social Media and Awareness (SM&A) LEAP Team has created an action plan to promote LEAP to students, faculty, staff, and the surrounding community through social media and additional awareness events.
  • LEAP Frog Guinness World Record planning.
  • Not completed.
  • LEAP exhibit in Robert’s Art Gallery (Jan-May 2014)
  • Completed.
  • Statistical Hipsters
  • Created a common assignment for use in statistics and quantitative research methods classes.
  • These courses were in Mathematics, Sociology, Political Science, and Psychology
  • Satisfied or related to “Intellectual & Practical Skills ELO.
  • 153 students completed the assignment.
  • Sustainability Superstars
  • The objective of this Action Plan is to establish a student sustainability employment position, implement an Eco-Rep program, and execute a sustainability Teach-In that incorporate the Essential Learning Outcomes, Principles of Excellence, Inclusive Excellence, and other High-Impact Practices covered through the LEAP Initiative.
  • TEAM ROCKET/Science/Literature/Visual Art
  • Our plan is to expose students to the shared interdisciplinary subject of plants. Plant-Life, like water, is a far reaching subject that affects all people. Plant taxonomy and close observation will be our starting point as a common conduit to delve deeply into the educational practice that LEAP goals reflect. Our individual areas of expertise in the sciences, visual arts and literature, will heighten students’ curiosity, innovation and synthesized knowledge as a model that will influence the interconnectivity of each discipline of study.
  • Young Outreach
  • Created (Leap Into Co-Curricular) LICC
  • Aims to facilitate three HIPs:
  • First Year Experience.
  • Common Intellectual Experiences.
  • Diversity/Global Learning.

2014 LEAP Teams: 23 Teams

  • Across Disciplines
  • Objective for the Spring semester was to execute a collaboration project between students in Political Science and Graphic Design to develop a series of posters concerned with presenting and promoting issues related to freedom of speech.
  • Our project included three of the Essential Learning Outcomes directly: Intellectual and Practical Skills, Personal and Social Responsibility, and Integrative Learning. We integrated the LEAP ELOs with George Mehaffy’s insights into the changing and challenging landscape of present day higher education.
  • Across Generations
  • Objective for the spring 2014 LEAP workshops is to research, explore and create an exchange program dedicated to the sharing of life skills between students and staff members on campus. Similar to the host family program created for international students, our proposal would focus on pairing student volunteers culled with staff member volunteers from across the employment spectrum.
  • The purpose would be to foster and share those life-skills that make life enjoyable but not necessarily pursued in a formal education. Potential avenues of inclusive partnership could be pairing a custodian with an art major, or a director with a passion for team sports with a student heavily involved in online gaming. Types of sharing could include attending a sporting event together, teaching a cooking skill via family recipe, partaking in a cultural art event or exhibit, or even teaching polka lessons. The goal would be to foster friendships and respect for different perspectives while engaging in a learning opportunity.
  • Chartwells Dining Services
  • Implementing LEAP into student employment in dining services.
  • Develop a newsletter and update employment videos for student associates that communicate the value of LEAP.
  • COBE Inclusive Excellence
  • Created an action plan to increase recruitment and retention success of underrepresented populations in CoBE, specifically under-represented minorities (URM) and women.
  • Objective aligns with LEAPs Principle of Excellence to “Make Excellence Inclusive”.
  • Connect the Dots
  • Develop a plan to promote the program/concept of Connect the Dots, which is targeted at second-year students that are first-generation and low income.
  • Publish a magazine.
  • CSO
  • Create a resume template to incorporate ELOs.
  • Make LEAP visible in CSO manual.
  • Experiential Learning
  • Create a centralized web site featuring experiential learning opportunities available for students, and ideas for staff/faculty for incorporating experiential learning in their courses and/or extracurricular activities.
  • Experiential Learning includes High Impact practices (HIPS) such as Undergraduate Research, Community-based Service Learning, Capstone projects, Internships, and/or collaborative projects in context of specific courses. Our action plan will strive to implement those HIPS at every stage of undergraduate student experience. Our action plan aims to achieve the LEAP specific Essential Learning Outcomes (ELOs) of improving critical and creative thinking, quantitative and information literacy, written and oral communication, teamwork and problem solving (for intellectual and practical skills), as well as civic knowledge and engagement, and develop foundations and skills for lifelong learning (personal and social responsibility).
  • First-Year Experience
  • Create an innovative, streamlined campus-wide communication plan to increase college student preparedness. Plan to develop an assessment tool which will evaluate all incoming freshman students on their ability to comprehend, and act upon, information received over the summer months from various campus offices, specifically Admissions, Financial Aid, Residence Life and First Year Experience.
  • IE in Student Employment
  • The team’s objective regarding LEAP is to engage staff members in helping student employees understand the value of diversity and inclusion in all aspects of their daily lives.
  • Must engage students and staff through:
  • Leveraging co-curricular learning.
  • Encouraging personal development.
  • IE Talks
  • Have conversation panels and workshops about IE Topics and how they connect to at least three LEAP ELOs.
  • International Engagement
  • Create a reflection space for all populations to use. Whether it would be individually or as a group, having a space to take a break in seeking balance, to meditate or pray could help support students’ overall achievements in and out of the classroom, as well as enhance their satisfaction and retention to campus.
  • International Scholars
  • Better understand the needs/wants that are available to visiting scholars.
  • LGTQA
  • Educate faculty and staff about LGBTQA issues of LGBTQA students in order to allow them to more fully focus on their own liberal education.
  • Makerspace
  • A makerspace is a collaborative, cross-disciplinary work area that allows people with different skill sets to work together with specialized tools. One of the goals of academia is the creation of new ideas and the encouragement of innovation. A makerspace allows people to come to together to use diverse skills to create new ideas and be innovative.
  • A makerspace would directly link to several key LEAP Principles of Excellence and Essential Learning Outcomes.
  • Students develop their ideas to the fullest extent, or even beyond, of their original idea or vision. This process will create life-long connections with critical thinking, trying to achieve one’s best and creating the best possible end results.
  • Math4Vets
  • This LEAP project is not only working on providing math 41 and 141 sections for Veterans and Servicemembers, but also to offer additional supports for those Veterans and Military Servicemembers enrolled in those sections.
  • Research different pedagogical approaches and High Impact Practices which have shown to be effective or are promising in helping our student Veterans succeed in Math 041 and 141.
  • Schedule dedicated military sections of Math 041 for Fall 2014 and Math 141 for Spring 2015.
  • Choose instructor(s) for these sections and provide them with both information on issues facing our student Veterans and opportunities to receive additional training.
  • Recruit and train tutors – ideally student Veterans – to provide support both in and out of the classroom.
  • Pilot Math 041 in Fall 2014 and Math 141 in Spring 2015, implementing and assessing the effectiveness of these approaches.
  • Spanish Resources
  • Determine the impact of making our Campus Spanish-friendly, find the principal areas that need bilingual information, find out if our project will be beneficial.