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University of Arizona Blue Chip Leadership Experience

Executive Summary 2017-2018

Background and Program Overview

The Blue Chip Leadership Experience is a nationally renowned foundational engagement program at the University of Arizona designed to inspire student leaders through experiential learning opportunities and engagement with other like-minded Wildcats. The mission of the Blue Chip Leadership Experience is to “build leaders that make a difference.”

Blue Chip Leadership is designed to help students engage on campus by making

interpersonal and involvement connections, developing leadership and professional skills,

and leading in their communities.

Blue Chip Leadership accomplishes these goals through the following experiences:

First Year Experience

Years 2-4 Experience

Transfer Experience

UA Online Experience

The Blue Chip Leadership Experience accomplishes its mission by engaging students in leadership and professional development experiences such as service learning, internships, networking events, team-based projects, among other co-curricular activities.

Outcomes

Student Learning Outcomes

The Blue Chip Leadership Experience maintains learning outcomes that vary depending on

the student’s year in the program. The outcomes that define each year include:

Communication and Professional Development

Collaboration and Teamwork

Reflection and Application

Involvement and Service

Inclusive Leadership

Community Building

These outcomes are defined in greater detail in Appendix A.

Program Outcomes

The Blue Chip Leadership Experience is intended to accommodate a robust first-year cohort, and more intimate cohorts in Years 2-4. The main objective of Year 1 is to connect students to several engagement opportunities across campus (e.g. student club involvement, campus employment, lab assistant positions) that align with their personal, professional, and career goals. We expect the majority of students to continue engaging with these opportunities upon completing Year 1, while offering a dynamic leadership experience for a limited number of students that wish to continue in Blue Chip Years 2-4.

The programmatic outcomes for Blue Chip Leadership Experience includes:

Enrolling 500 students into the First Year Experience

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Retaining 30% of students into the second year of Blue Chip Leadership Experience

o Of students who do not commit to Year 2 of Blue Chip, ensuring 100% engagement of those students in other involvement experiences on campus.

Retaining 80% of students into their sophomore year at the University of Arizona

Awarding 100% of 3rd and 4th year students with the University Engagment Notation

Assessment Method

Outcomes are assessed through several activities and resources.

Capstone Presentations: Students in the final year of the Blue Chip Leadership Experience participate in a capstone which takes place during the spring semester prior to Blue Chip Graduation. Capstone Presentations are intended to provide students with the opportunity to reflect on the experiences that they have had in Blue Chip and at the UA and share what they have learned from those experiences. Additionally, students also take their reflection a step further by expressing what their learning experiences mean to them and how they plan on using the skills, lessons, etc. that learning in their future career aspirations. See Appendix B for rubric to assess capstone presentations.

Professional Documents: Blue Chip Leadership provides profesional development for students. Upon completion of the First Year Experience, all students who persisted through the first year class in the spring semester have created and revised a professional resume and LinkedIn profile. Throughout their time in Blue Chip, students are taught about the value of networking and goal setting, connecting with companies and professionals, and are encouraged to continue updating their resumes and online profiles so that they can continue building their networks and exploring other engagement experiences.

Reflection Activities: In an effort to teach students the concept of reflection and application, Blue Chip Leadership requires students to complete a paper which expresses what skills and lessons that they have gained from an experience. Reflection activities, including papers and digital reflections, are typically completed after students have participated in engaged learning experiences. In doing so, students are provided with the opportunity to reflect on the value of an experience and assess how that experience can be applied in their future.

Propensity Score Matching (PSM): PSM is used for retention analysis for First-Time Full-Time students from Freshman year to Sophomore Year. A comparison group of students is used to understand the impact of participation in Blue Chip on student retention. The comparison group is matched for factors that influence student retention (e.g. academic index, ethnicity, first-generation, gender, Pell grant recipient, residency, honors, high school GPA, campus living status, and STEM).

Engagement Notation: All Blue Chip students who complete year 3 and 4 completed for-credit engagemed learning experiences which are added to the student’s Engagment record for participating in and completing a 40+ hour engaged learning experience. The student can access their Engagement Record via their UAccess Student account. When students complete a 100% Engagement experience and then connects that experience to 100% Engagement through a designated upper division course or out of classroom experience, they earn an Engaged Learning Experience notation on their academic transcript.

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Assessment Results

620 students enrolled into Year 1 of Blue Chip Leadership at the beginning of fall 2017, meeting our goal of 500 students enrolled into the program.

334 students commited and persisted into the Blue Chip Leadership course in spring 2018.

302 students finished the spring 2018 course, therefore, successfully completing Year 1 of Blue Chip.

The mean cumulative GPA for the Fall 2017 cohort of Blue Chip Year 1 students was 3.23, .21 points higher than students who did not participate in Blue Chip.

100% of 3rd and 4th Years (58 students) were awarded the Engagement Notation.

Blue Chip First Time, Full Time participants experienced a 99.7% retention rate into their sophomore year, compared to 89.4% of a peer comparison group.

28 Blue Chip Year 4 students participated in capstone presentations to complete their Blue Chip Leadership experience. The average score for the capstone presentations was 11.75/12.

Each student’s presentation was graded on four categories: Reflection (Reviews Prior Learning, Reflection (Integration & Synthesis), Application (Applies learning to future experiences to shape future), Communication.

93% of students exemplified the ability to Reflect on Prior Learning 97% of students exemplified the ability to Reflect and

Integrate/Synthesize their evolution as a leader through Blue Chip 95% of students exemplified the ability to apply learning to future

experiences. 95% of students exemplified the ability to effectively communicate

(defined as being able to articulate in verbal expression and presentations).

Effectiveness: Student Testimonials and Evidence of Student Learning

“I have become more confident when it comes to working on teams and leading groups. One of the most important lessons I have learned is that there is not one way to effectively work with others or lead a group of people…I feel confident that I will be able to take all that I have learned working on teams in Blue Chip and apply it to the situations I will face after graduation.”

-Ricquee, Class of 2018

“Blue Chip has equipped me to be a confident leader and to utilize my skills for the

betterment of society. I plan to utilize the tools I have acquired from Blue Chip to be the

best leader I can be as I go on throughout my life.”

-Lindsey, Class of 2018

“With all that I have done at the University of Arizona, Blue Chip has had the most impact

on my life. It has given me a place to express myself and get to know people from all over

campus and life. This program is great and has a structure that can help anyone achieve

their dreams. The advisors and mentors have a passion for their students and it is

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refreshing to know that people care. I do not know where I would be if it were not for this

program, thank you.”

-Julia, Class of 2018

“I am eternally grateful for everything that I’ve been able to take away from Blue Chip over

the years. I cannot wait to see where the future will take me.”

-Brooklyn, Class of 2018

“Blue Chip Leadership has been an invaluable experience for me. Blue Chip provided me

with a place to feel included and allowed me to be a part of something greater. Blue Chip

has been a supportive system in more ways than I can describe and I’m not sure I would be

graduating this May, had it not been for Blue Chip.”

-Stephanie, Class of 2018

Implications for Practice

Problem Solving Activity: Blue Chip Year 1 students participate in several activities in the fall semester intended to help them build relationships with each other as they navigate their freshman year. These relationship building activities include a session on problem solving. Student feedback indicated that the current problem solving activity, logic puzzles, did not meet the intended learning outcome which was to help students learn how to work together. Future iterations of the program should create a more engaging activity that will more intentionally support teamwork.

Team Leader Training: Focus should be given to re-envision team leader training for Year 2 students. There appears to be an issue in comfortability with students facilitating team meetings and activities for Year 1 students. Consideration should be given on promoting organic facilitation strategies and how to address conflicts that arise in the meetings.

Equiss Inclusive Leadership Project: There is a lack of commitment to inclusive leadership development after Year 3 students participate in Equiss, an inclusive, engaged leadership retreat, in the fall semester. The post-retreat project, which consists of 5 hours of community service over the course of the spring semester, needs more structure to ensure continued learning. There is a clear lack of evidence that student learning is being applied after the retreat experience.

Professional Communication: Program staff should consider adding a professional communication dimension to the Year 4 capstone rubric, in addition to the current communication dimension of the rubric. The professional communication dimension will assess the student’s overall ability to present material in a clear, effective manner as well as showcase their experiences within online profiles.

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Appendix A: Blue Chip Years 1-4 Learning Outcomes

Blue Chip Year 1: The First Year Experience

Blue Chip Year 2: Learn

Blue Chip Year 3: Practice

Blue Chip Year 4: Lead

Communication and

Professional Development

· Identify and practice effective interpersonal communication skills

· Identify and practice effective public speaking skills

· Recognize and develop professional skills and growth areas through a leadership internship or preceptorship

· Demonstrate effective communication skills through a professional presentation

· Create a professional leadership portfolio to showcase accomplishments programs

· Edit a professional leadership portfolio to be able to showcase accomplishments

· Identify and use professional communication and interview skills

· Develop an understanding of appropriate occupational professional etiquette

· Develop a professional resume to highlight their leadership, involvement, and accomplishments

· Deliver a professional case study presentation

Collaboration and Teamwork

· Develop effective collaboration skills in planning for and engaging in teambuilding and service

· Demonstrate effective collaboration as part of a diverse team

· Implement effective planning and facilitation skills within a team

· Demonstrate the capacity and commitment to participate constructively with a diverse group of people including peers and professional staff members

· Demonstrate effective collaboration as part of a diverse team

· Demonstrate effective collaboration with peers and professional staff as leadership internship or preceptorship

Reflection and Application

· Reflect on and apply current learning to future experiences

· Define personal leadership style and practices through the lens of self-assessment tools and self-reflection

· Reflect on and apply current learning from experiences to future experiences

· Recognize and explain the role one’s leadership values, beliefs, strengths, and attitudes play in one’s own personal leadership style

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Appendix A: Blue Chip Years 1-4 Learning Outcomes (continued)

Reflection and

Application (Continued)

· Define personal leadership style and practices through the lens of self-assessment tools and self-reflection

· Reflect on personal learning gained through service and exploration of a contemporary social issue

· Explain personal and professional skill development, abilities, strengths, and growth areas through self-reflection

· Reflect on and apply current learning from experiences to future experiences

· Explain personal and professional skill development, abilities, strengths, and growth areas through self-reflection

Involvement and Service

· Create an involvement plan for their future as an undergraduate student

· Plan and participate in service projects with their peers and community partners

· Investigate inclusivity issues by engaging with community organizations

· Create a sustained partnership with a community organization

· Participate in service projects with their peers and community partners

· Develop a partnership with a local community organization

· Develop a partnership with community organizations through service

Inclusive Leadership

· Recognize the power of language as it relates to inclusion in today’s diverse communities

· Identify examples of systems which privilege some social groups over others in our society

· Learn strategies to confront systems of oppression and create a more equitable world

· Define privilege and oppression in relation to social identities

· Analyze a societal problem from a systems thinking perspective to recognize root causes and their ongoing effects

· Analyze societal power and privilege through a systems thinking perspective

· Explore personal identities in relation to social group membership

· Analyze a societal problem from a social change perspective

· Design strategies to address the social change issue

Community Building

· Build positive relationships with peers and peer mentors

· Build networks and relationships around a common thematic leadership lens

· Participate in an event that emphasizes collaboration and building community among students

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Appendix B: Blue Chip Year 4 Capstone Presentation Rubric

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Appendix B: Blue Chip Year 4 Capstone Presentation Rubric (continued)