Enrichment programs set new standard for undergraduates

Enrollment at UW–Madison hasn’t changed much in recent years, but a transformation of the university’s learning environment over the past decade is building a smaller, more closely knit community for thousands of students.

In a recent report to the UW System Board of Regents Education Committee, UW–Madison Interim Provost Virginia Sapiro noted that four out of every five undergraduates at the university in 2004-05 were participating in some kind of experiential academic enrichment program that gets them directly involved with faculty and staff. Those activities go above and beyond classroom instruction and include residential learning communities, undergraduate research initiatives, study-abroad and service learning projects, among others.

“We want every one of our students to have a challenging and enriching academic experience as an expected part of their undergraduate work,” Sapiro says. “We’re not looking at these as extras.”

This transformation began in earnest in 1992, Sapiro says, with the advent of an elaborate campus advising network, which integrated academic and career advising across departments, colleges and schools.

Another major development was in learning communities, Sapiro says. Not in existence before 1992, the university now has six residential learning communities that enroll 1,436 students — more than 20 percent of all residence hall students. Their popularity has been extraordinary, growing from only 290 students in 1995 to their present numbers.

Learning communities integrate academic topics into the residence halls, giving students the opportunity to bond with faculty outside the classroom and build strong social networks with fellow students. Last year, 135 UW–Madison professors were part of a learning community, and 100 participated with no added compensation.

Learning community residents enjoy higher grade point averages, greater civic engagement and drink less alcohol on average than their peers, Sapiro says.

Undergraduate research has also quietly emerged as a major force in instruction, Sapiro says. The annual Undergraduate Research Symposium in April includes more than 250 presenters, and each one of those represents at least a yearlong collaboration between a student and instructor. In addition, more than 150 students each year receive $4,000 grants through the Hilldale Undergraduate Research Fellowships and other funded programs.

Service learning has also soared since 1996, with the creation of the Morgridge Center for Public Service, Sapiro says. This office coordinates civic engagement programs for the entire campus, offering a database of 900 volunteer programs run by more than 300 nonprofit groups in Wisconsin. It also coordinates an average of 80 service learning courses each semester and has funded, since 2000, more than 60 “Wisconsin Idea Fellowships” for undergraduate service projects.

Sapiro says these three initiatives account for the largest spike in enrichment-related programs. In the 2002-03 year, 6,107 undergraduates, or 69 percent of those eligible for graduation, were involved in an enrichment program. That figure climbed to 80 percent, or 6,289, in 2004-05. Sapiro says the goal is 100 percent participation to reflect the essential nature of these programs to the future lives of students.

Other programs feed into the enrichment figure:

• Studying abroad was pursued by 1,609 students in 2004-05, or 18 percent of all 6,289 undergraduates elibible for graduation in 2004-05.
• Honors courses reach 22 percent of all undergraduates and seminars reach 35 percent of the total.
• The number of students pursuing independent study with a faculty member is 46 percent of all students. Participation in fieldwork for academic credit is 20 percent of the total.

“Research shows us that student development and academic success hinges on becoming well-integrated into the university,” Sapiro says. In fact, a recent Harvard University study found that the single greatest predictor of success for students is whether they developed a close relationship with a faculty member — an even stronger predictor than a student’s economic or social demographic.

The “enrichment equation” plays against the stereotype of the undergraduate experience at major research universities, which is typically cast as anonymous and impersonal, Sapiro says. Involvement in these programs is becoming the new standard for student success, especially those at different ends of the academic spectrum.

“We know that these programs can help ensure success for those who are academically vulnerable,” she says, “but also help the academic high-fliers fly even higher.”