FROM THE NEST | SUMMER 2024 | 29 Most everyone has been there— settled in front of the TV on a Friday night with the remote in hand and faced with the conundrum of what to watch. Many streaming services today make it a little easier to come to a decision by offering recommendations based on a person’s viewing habits. Now, Lehigh’s Office of Creative Inquiry is trying to lead the creation of a similar experience for students who want to find high-impact, beyond-the-classroom, interdisciplinary learning opportunities at the university. Lehigh 360, an initiative for democratizing access to high-impact opportunities at Lehigh, launched a searchable database in October 2023 that helps students explore available high-impact programs. The larger initiative aims to help students find their passions and purpose, be intentional with how they spend their time at Lehigh and share the outcomes of their experiences, both on campus and out in the world. Making Programs Accessible The Lehigh 360 High-Impact Programs Database includes nine categories of nearly 50 programs across all colleges and disciplines. It’s designed to help make the university’s signature programs visible and accessible to all Lehigh students. It allows sorting by application deadlines, program period and class eligibility. Other searchable features include sorting by GPA requirements, and whether programs offer academic credit, financial aid or work study opportunities. “We wanted to create an online repository of information that would not only provide information for students of what exists on our campus, but help them understand and make intentional choices about which of those programs are right for them in terms of the skills they want to build, kinds of experiences they want to have, changes they want to make in the world and what aligns with their passions,” Bill Whitney, assistant vice provost for experiential learning programs, says. Lehigh 360 amplifies initiatives in Lehigh’s Strategic Plan, including a commitment to cultural diversity as an essential part of the learning environment, and educational opportunities to empower individuals to excel.—Stephen Gross STUDENT EXPERIENCE A New Hub: Lehigh 360 Searchable database helps students discover high-impact programs. “IT'S A GREAT TOOL TO PLAN OUT PROGRAMS YOU WANT TO BE INVOLVED IN DURING THE SEMESTER AND SUMMERS THROUGHOUT YOUR UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE.” —Nikki Pasterczyk ’25, Lehigh 360 scholar GLOBAL Student Project Wins Peace Award Three Lehigh students have jointly won a $10,000 Davis Projects for Peace award to develop a project in Bududa, Uganda, that provides nutrient-rich eggs to young children, cultivates economic opportunities and fosters connections among the community, schools and health care systems. The project aims to help combat malnutrition in that area of the East African country. The students—Willow Munson ’24, a global studies and pre-med major; Anna Sullivan ’26, a sociology major; and Randi Conroy ’25, a finance major—developed the poultry project in connection with the nongovernmental organization Pathways Development Initiative (PDI), which founded the first pre-primary school in Uganda’s Bududa District. The money will be used to build a poultry house on PDI’s land that will be maintained by older students in PDI’s sports program under the supervision of a chicken maintenance expert. The money also will be used to buy as many as 500 chickens to provide eggs for the pre-primary school, which serves 3- to 5-year-olds, as well as allow for chicken reproduction and the program’s sustainability. Munson, Sullivan and Conroy had learned of the needs in Bududa through earlier work there with Sociology Professor Kelly Austin.—Mary Ellen Alu Willow Munson ’24 Anna Sullivan ’26 Randi Conroy ’25 MARCUS SMITH ’25
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