Building a Distinctive Honors Program through Hand-on Experiential Learning with University of Louisiana Monroe

About the School

The University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) is a public university enrolling approximately 8,277 students across 36 undergraduate majors. The institution is recognized for its strong academic outcomes and commitment to student opportunity, including being named a “Top Performer on Social Mobility.” Nearly half of the Honors Program population comes from underserved backgrounds, highlighting the university’s dedication to accessibility and student advancement. ULM also has several distinctive achievements, including 29 national championships in water skiing and producing roughly 75% of the state of Louisiana’s pharmacists. The Honors Program itself enrolls around 445 students from all majors and provides an enriched academic experience through leadership opportunities, service learning, research, and specialized housing and scholarships.

Challenges before Suitable

Prior to implementing Suitable, the Honors Program faced several operational and structural challenges. A new provost had prioritized experiential learning and the creation of co-curricular transcripts or ePortfolios, but the program’s structure reflected a more traditional curriculum. Because of the more traditional format, the program lacked the resources to expand courses, add additional sections, or increase faculty workload. The previous technology system, Anthology, was unreliable and had limited capabilities, resulting in low adoption among both administrators and students. Most importantly, there was no structured or formalized system for tracking student engagement in co-curricular activities, making it difficult to measure experiential learning or demonstrate student progress outside of the classroom.

After experiencing these hardships with lack of efficiency for far too long, ULM decided to brainstorm new system requirements that would outshine the current ineffective system framework. The university needed a platform that was scalable, user-friendly and intuitive with minimal guesswork, and as automated and real-time as possible. It also required mobile accessibility through an app, gamification features to encourage engagement, accurate and customizable tracking and reporting tools, and the ability to generate co-curricular transcripts and micro-credentials. The lack of a system that met these criteria limited the program’s ability to modernize student engagement astronomically, hindering student development throughout the campus.

Life with Suitable

ULM selected Suitable in May 2023 as a technology partner to help modernize the Honors Program and support experiential learning initiatives. The platform was able to enable the launch of the FLIGHT program (Forging Leaders, Inspiring Growth, Harnessing Talent), an experiential curriculum that was designed to track and quantify learning that occurs outside of the classroom. Through this resource, students can participate in events on campus, internships, and other points opportunities and digital badges that are aligned with core competencies like research, leadership, civic engagement, global awareness, and professional development. The system is efficient due to being mobile-friendly, automated, and designed with gamification features to encourage participation. It also allows for the program to track progress of students and to generate co-curricular transcripts that show off a student's personal and professional development.

“It's all about the students - watching that moment when they get 'it' - when they realize their best was beyond what they thought it would be."

Dr. Joshua Stockley, Honors Program Director

On top of the systematic improvements such as mobile-friendliness and tracking efficiency, FLIGHT has been able to implement some newer features as well. New Flight Student Ambassadors have been recruited to assist in the program’s day-to-day operations with hands-on support and troubleshooting. These students serve as influencers for FLIGHT, integrating more relatable methods of outreach for students on campus through peer contact. As well as this, a new University Seminar course has been offered to students that allow for them to learn more about how to use the app, and ultimately earn them their own FYE Badge through six easy activities that win them points (a badge symbolizing elementary use of the application). Finally, ULM was able to utilize the Honors Colloquium for freshman and sophomore students, and framed it around the FLIGHT program. This blending of the honors program and education on the FLIGHT program and Suitable was able to challenge students to think critically about what competencies are and why they are vital to student success.

FLIGHT Outcomes At A Glance

• After partnering with Suitable, University of Louisiana Monroe can proudly say that they have achieved a 100% student engagement rate over each academic school year.
• ULM has been able to identify student cohorts with the highest activity levels, finding the Junior cohort of the 2024-25 academic school year being the most hands-on in the program.
• Administrative workload has been significantly reduced by simplifying workflows and automating tracking processes. 

Plans for the Future

Moving forward, the Honors Program plans to continue expanding the FLIGHT initiative and deepen student engagement. By the end of this academic year, ULM plans to hold an exclusive celebration for the students deemed the highest achieving FLIGHT students. Goals such as increasing merchandise quality for badge winners, strengthening stakeholder relationships, communication improvements and recruiting more student ambassadors also take precedence for future FLIGHT planning. The program also is looking to introduce new micro-badges, including leadership development and community engagement opportunities. Looking down the road in years to come, another goal is to brainstorm more robust incentive strategies, and increase the number of completions to ultimately create a stronger program and grow university retention.