High Impact Practices

Student Life High Impact Practice Definition: Educational opportunities involving experiential learning that require significant student investment, designed to build life skills through engagement and reflection.

Student Transitions:

  • New Student Orientation: Orientation aids students in transitioning to ECU by fostering academic success and social connections. It builds community through friendships and involvement in campus life, while also defining campus culture through traditions, pride, and discussions of expectations and responsibilities.
  • COAD 1000: Freshman seminar course that aids in student transition to college by helping students develop a sense of belonging, learn academic skills, gain life skills, and begin the career development process.
  • Quest Living Learning Community: Living Learning Community for transfer students that take a COAD course together, attend programs and events, and are expected to get engaged in campus activities.

Student Media:

  • Educational opportunities: Student Media offers required training programs for each division before students officially join staff.
  • Experiential learning: After training, students take on hands-on roles such as reporters, DJs, designers, and photographers, producing professional content for campus and community audiences.
  • Requires significant student investment. Students commit six to nine weeks to training, followed by ongoing work in their divisions that often involves deadlines, leadership responsibilities, and public-facing projects.
  • Designed to build life skills: Participants gain skills in time management, teamwork, communication (i.e., reporting, writing, creating an on-air personality, etc.), conflict resolution, and adaptability while working in a professional, deadline-driven learning laboratory.
  • Engagement and reflection: Students engage with peers, campus partners, and community members and reflect through columns and on-air broadcasts. They also reflect on the value of their work through ECU GROW-guided conversations with their advisers.

Student Engagement:

  • Veteran to Scholar: Veteran to Scholar boot camp assists new student veterans make a successful transition from military to university life through academic skill-building, creating community, and connecting participants with relevant campus resources.
  • Veterans Leadership Academy: The Veterans Leadership Academy allows veterans to explore facets of their military leadership style, while learning about leadership styles in the civilian world.
  • LeaderShape: LeaderShape is a 4-day, immersive leadership experience where students explore their individual visions for a just, caring, and thriving world.
  • Chancellor’s Student Leadership Academy: CSLA is a premier leadership program designed to help emerging leaders develop valuable skills to inspire, empower, and influence positive change.
  • Alternative Break Experience: ABE’s provide immersive service-learning opportunities for ECU students to address community-identified needs across Eastern NC and international locations, fostering civic engagement, cultural understanding, and critical reflection.
  • Fraternity & Sorority Student Leader Retreat: A collaborative retreat where council leaders and chapter presidents grow as leaders, unify priorities, and create actionable steps to support the success of their council, chapter, and the broader Fraternity and Sorority Life community.
  • Fraternity & Sorority Life New Member Programming: A leadership series that introduces new members to the six pillars of our FSL community and equips them with the tools to create a strong and values-driven fraternity and sorority experience.
  • Coffee House: Coffee House is an informal weekly psychoeducational and social gathering for students covering topics such as identity development, relationship success, and health habits.

Student Centers:

  • Student Employee Training: Develop a robust student employee training program that focuses on both job training and development of transferable work-related skills for professional employment after the student graduates from college.
  • Student Center Facilities: Create, develop, and support design elements within the student centers in open spaces that represent the history, tradition, values, multiple identities, work, and life experiences of the ECU community.