The PEAK curriculum at The College of Idaho challenges students to embark on a self-designed and well-rounded educational experience. With one major and three minors spanning four academic areas, guided exploration allows scholars to climb higher and see farther into the liberal arts.
This personal journey is boundless when students couple studies with robust co-curricular involvement. Beyond the walls of the classroom and in the community, getting involved in just one club, organization, or affinity group can be transformational and contribute to a student's success. Intersecting student involvement and academics creates learners and citizens that can do MORE.
Over four years, involved students can enjoy and reflect upon the value of more meaningful experiences, develop more refined leadership and professional skills through occupational involvement, have more fun and let off steam with recreational offerings and exit the college more prepared for a career or further academic pursuits by completing an experiential, high impact opportunity.
Students can track their involvement from day one of the First-Year Experience by creating and maintaining a MORE Map. This tool allows students to record their Meaningful, Occupational, Recreational, and Experiential involvement as well as the roles they play. The MORE Map can demonstrate a student's progress from a member to an emerging leader and illustrate connections between the four involvement areas. MORE Maps are designed to grow with the student's involvement and are easy to complete with the assistance of an Involvement Coach, a specially trained and highly involved student leader, and peer.
The MORE Model
MORE is designed to help students become involved more deeply and completely during their time at the College. It's actually an acronym for four goals of a student's involvement in campus life:
- M - Meaningful
- O - Occupational
- R - Recreational
- E - Experiential
Meaningful: significant, relevant, important, consequential, worthwhile
Students seeking to have meaningful involvement should seek out things connected with:
- Volunteerism
- Service to community
- Philanthropic events and organizations
- Service clubs
- Club and organization leadership roles
- Affinity groups
- Retreats
Occupational: job-related, work, professional, vocational career
Students seeking to have occupational involvement should seek out things connected with:
- Work-study
- Dorm RAs
- Elected officer positions
- Campus Safety officer positions
- The Advocates
- PEAK mentoring
- Involvement Coaching
- Judicial Board
- Campus Ministries internships
- Tutoring
- Outdoor Program directorships
- Academic clubs
- Sustainability Stewards
- Employment
- Professional clubs and organizations
- Committee participation
- Program Council
Recreational: leisure, relaxation, fun, entertainment, sport
Students seeking to have recreational involvement should seek out things connected with:
- Club and organization membership
- Intramurals
- Team captaining
- YoteFam
- Game attendance
- Band
- Cheer
- Athletics
- Outdoor Program trips
- Volunteerism
- Cabaret
- Program Council events
- Attending community events
- Attending events by other clubs and organizations
Experiential: observational, experimental, genuine, demonstrable, verifiable
Students seeking to have experiential involvement should seek out things connected with:
- Internships
- Student research
- Faculty-led research
- Faculty-led trips
- Study away
- Academic exchange programs
- Job shadowing
- ASCI Officer or Senator positions
- Club and organization leadership
- Club and organization membership
- Hosting and organizing events
- Employment on- or off-campus