Lehigh University
CASE STUDY
Lehigh University
“There are many Lehigh students who do incredible things while they are here, and Merit provides a way to showcase their contributions and accomplishments of all students.” —SHARON BASSO, ASSOCIATE VICE PROVOST AND DEAN OF STUDENTS
Bethlehem, PA
HIGHLIGHTS INSTITUTION Lehigh University LOCATION Bethlehem, PA ESTABLISHED 1865 ENROLLMENT 7,000 72% of undergraduates participate in community service 1,000+ undergraduates participate in research each year
What does it mean to be a Mountain Hawk? Students at Lehigh University get the best of both worlds: a student-centered residential college with liberal arts strengths, and a premier research university with strong programs in engineering, business, and education. That distinctive combination is the heart of Lehigh, an institution that “aspires to an environment where the academic and living experiences merge into an integrated learning experience.”
Bringing the integrated learning experience to life Lehigh’s student life curriculum, called ‘bLUeprint’, encourages each student to pursue Lehigh’s five foundations for student success: Creative Curiosity, Identity Development, Collaborative Connections, Inclusive Leadership, and Professional Growth & Success. The foundations are based on core competencies identified in the institution’s strategic plan, and align with the institution’s academic, co-curricular,
and personal development offerings. Students create their own personalized bLUeprint for success at Lehigh as part of the first year experience. As they progress through their Lehigh experience and participate in programs like LeaderShape, the Mountaintop Project, PreLUsion Leadership, ROTC, and other programs that align with the bLUeprint curriculum, students’ learning and living experiences coalesce into Lehigh’s distinctive, integrated experience.
With Merit, everyone knows what it means to be a Mountain Hawk Though Lehigh’s internal community knows and understands the value of this experience, the institution wanted to ensure that external stakeholders, including prospective future students and their influencers in local communities beyond Lehigh, fully understand and can see examples of what it means to have an integrated learning experience at Lehigh. Merit allows the university to connect the individual story of every Lehigh student to audiences familiar with that student.
By using Merit to generate personalized stories about participation in academic and bLUeprint curricula and distribute them directly to government representatives, community newspapers, high school principals, and friends and family via social media, Lehigh vastly expands the number of people aware of its distinctive approach to blending learning and living. In addition, any time Lehigh uses Merit to promote student accomplishments to Merit’s network of stakeholders, each student’s personalized Merit page -- a positive, public online presence discoverable by future employers -- is automatically updated with branded, institutionally-verified stories of their involvement and success. Students’ Merit pages bring their own bLUeprints to life and become a public showcase for their unique journeys at Lehigh.
Conclusion Merit not only engages Lehigh students by recognizing them for their participation and involvement in the institution’s integrated learning experiences, but also promotes those personal experiences to a network of stakeholders that care deeply about each student. bLUeprint is no longer an internal initiative confined to Lehigh’s campus, but a public point of distinction that connects the student experience to audiences all over the world.
“Merit helps Lehigh recognize students for their extraordinary efforts to grow and develop as academic scholars and to become active citizen-leaders within the Lehigh community and beyond.” —ALLISON GULATI, ASSOCIATE DEAN OF STUDENTS AND DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
Merit extends Lehigh’s bLUeprint curriculum beyond the campus. In one year, Merit connected 7,500 unique stories of the Lehigh student experience to stakeholders in more than 2,700 local communities. The institution generated more than 100,000 social media impressions and 14,000 page views to personalized proof points of the valuable Lehigh experience.
WHAT IS MERIT? What does it mean to be a student at your institution? Your efforts to create a distinctive, comprehensive student experience are made more meaningful when Merit connects the unique story of every student with the people who care about their success: their communities, high schools, family and friends, and future employers.
Discover why hundreds of institutions rely on Merit: www.meritpages.com | 1-800-552-2194 | [email protected]
Lehigh University
“There are many Lehigh students who do incredible things while they are here, and Merit provides a way to showcase their contributions and accomplishments of all students.” —SHARON BASSO, ASSOCIATE VICE PROVOST AND DEAN OF STUDENTS
Bethlehem, PA
HIGHLIGHTS INSTITUTION Lehigh University LOCATION Bethlehem, PA ESTABLISHED 1865 ENROLLMENT 7,000 72% of undergraduates participate in community service 1,000+ undergraduates participate in research each year
What does it mean to be a Mountain Hawk? Students at Lehigh University get the best of both worlds: a student-centered residential college with liberal arts strengths, and a premier research university with strong programs in engineering, business, and education. That distinctive combination is the heart of Lehigh, an institution that “aspires to an environment where the academic and living experiences merge into an integrated learning experience.”
Bringing the integrated learning experience to life Lehigh’s student life curriculum, called ‘bLUeprint’, encourages each student to pursue Lehigh’s five foundations for student success: Creative Curiosity, Identity Development, Collaborative Connections, Inclusive Leadership, and Professional Growth & Success. The foundations are based on core competencies identified in the institution’s strategic plan, and align with the institution’s academic, co-curricular,
and personal development offerings. Students create their own personalized bLUeprint for success at Lehigh as part of the first year experience. As they progress through their Lehigh experience and participate in programs like LeaderShape, the Mountaintop Project, PreLUsion Leadership, ROTC, and other programs that align with the bLUeprint curriculum, students’ learning and living experiences coalesce into Lehigh’s distinctive, integrated experience.
With Merit, everyone knows what it means to be a Mountain Hawk Though Lehigh’s internal community knows and understands the value of this experience, the institution wanted to ensure that external stakeholders, including prospective future students and their influencers in local communities beyond Lehigh, fully understand and can see examples of what it means to have an integrated learning experience at Lehigh. Merit allows the university to connect the individual story of every Lehigh student to audiences familiar with that student.
By using Merit to generate personalized stories about participation in academic and bLUeprint curricula and distribute them directly to government representatives, community newspapers, high school principals, and friends and family via social media, Lehigh vastly expands the number of people aware of its distinctive approach to blending learning and living. In addition, any time Lehigh uses Merit to promote student accomplishments to Merit’s network of stakeholders, each student’s personalized Merit page -- a positive, public online presence discoverable by future employers -- is automatically updated with branded, institutionally-verified stories of their involvement and success. Students’ Merit pages bring their own bLUeprints to life and become a public showcase for their unique journeys at Lehigh.
Conclusion Merit not only engages Lehigh students by recognizing them for their participation and involvement in the institution’s integrated learning experiences, but also promotes those personal experiences to a network of stakeholders that care deeply about each student. bLUeprint is no longer an internal initiative confined to Lehigh’s campus, but a public point of distinction that connects the student experience to audiences all over the world.
“Merit helps Lehigh recognize students for their extraordinary efforts to grow and develop as academic scholars and to become active citizen-leaders within the Lehigh community and beyond.” —ALLISON GULATI, ASSOCIATE DEAN OF STUDENTS AND DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
Merit extends Lehigh’s bLUeprint curriculum beyond the campus. In one year, Merit connected 7,500 unique stories of the Lehigh student experience to stakeholders in more than 2,700 local communities. The institution generated more than 100,000 social media impressions and 14,000 page views to personalized proof points of the valuable Lehigh experience.
WHAT IS MERIT? What does it mean to be a student at your institution? Your efforts to create a distinctive, comprehensive student experience are made more meaningful when Merit connects the unique story of every student with the people who care about their success: their communities, high schools, family and friends, and future employers.
Discover why hundreds of institutions rely on Merit: www.meritpages.com | 1-800-552-2194 | [email protected]
