UIC Impact is the University of Illinois at Chicago’s commitment that all students will have the opportunity to apply their learning to real world challenges through high-impact engagement. UIC Impact has adapted the high-impact practices from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Research shows that because of the deep learning that occurs, students who participate in high-impact practices are more likely to persist through graduation and are more successful in their initial steps after college.

UIC Impact was originally launched as the UIC Experience program in 2009 with the express intent of enhancing student learning. The program was further developed in 2013 to support retention and graduation as part of the goals of the Student Success Initiative.

In order to better meet these goals, the UIC Experience program was restructured and then rebranded in 2016 as UIC Impact, focusing on high-impact engagement. UIC Impact identifies out-of-classroom opportunities for high-impact engagement and provides students with opportunities to reflect upon and make meaning of their experiences. Through this reflection on their high-impact activities, these students were able to articulate meaning of their engagement that they could then convey to future employers.

Faculty and staff are the corner stones to UIC meeting its commitment to 100% engagement. It is through your programs, your service, and your time that our students will be able to dive deeper into learning more about themselves, their chosen fields, and the larger world they live in. It is also through you that our students will be best prepared for their initial steps after their time at UIC.
To be considered a UIC Impact engagement opportunity, programs at minimum must:

• Identify a least one of the listed Areas of Concentration
• Require a commitment of at least 50 hours of engagement from participants
• Include a reflective component that helps participants make meaning of the experience (Reflections must feature complex synthesis of information and connections of the engagement experience to career goals, future plans, or societal impact.)