A hallmark of honors education is high levels of student engagement both inside and outside of the classroom. In 2024, the Honors Program (now the John H. Martinson Honors Program or JMHP) rolled out its Jacket Journey program in collaboration with the company Suitable. Suitable is a software that allows for increased student engagement with events and programming, tracking of student participation, and the development of co-curricular portfolios and badges. The JMHP's implementation of Suitable is called “Jacket Journey,” as students' time in the JMHP should be a developmental journey as they build skills and experiences.
Jacket Journey software creates an interactive experience that gamifies and incentivizes participation. This helps students to develop and articulate skills and experiences that occur outside the classroom in four specific competency areas in the JMHP.
Competency #1: Intellectual Curiosity & Innovation
Students learn to navigate ambiguity, synthesize multiple perspectives, and approach complex challenges with creativity and rigor.
Competency #2: Leadership & Agency
Students develop the confidence and initiative to shape their learning, pursue opportunities, and lead with integrity and purpose.
Competency #3: Engagement & Community Impact
Students actively engage with faculty, peers, and communities towards lasting and meaningful impact.
Competency #4: Connection & Reflection
Students build meaningful relationships and connect their experiences to their purpose, identity, and future direction.
As students participate in events, engage in reflection exercises, and have experiences on campus, they accrue points through the Jacket Journey (Suitable) app. These points allow students to earn various digital badges, which are tied to winning JMHP swag or participating in exclusive Jacket Journey experiences. Badges are micro-credentials that can be shared in places like LinkedIn. Jacket Journey also generates a co-curricular transcript that documents and summarizes the skills being gained OUTSIDE the classroom.
Over the past two years, students' engagement with Jacket Journey has grown, with students attending thousands of events and completing tasks. The JMHP staff team has worked closely with Suitable, partnering on webinars and conference presentations. In 2024 Faculty Director Dr. Amy D'Unger participated in a webinar panel on implementing the application in a growing honors program. In 2025, Program Coordinator Amara Anderson and Program and Operations Manager Amie Raines partnered with Suitable staff member Kelsey Krauss to present on "Strategic Partnerships for Sustainable Impact and Student Success" at the annual meeting of the National Collegiate Honors Council. They then followed up with a national webinar on the same topic in spring 2026.
In recognition of the strength of the partnership and the success of Jacket Journey, the JMHP was nominated as a Suitable Collaborator of the Year, with the awards presented at the Suitable Pathways Conference in July 2026. The JMHP was selected as one of three winners of the award. The JMHP is excited to continue its collaboration with Suitable to enrich and elevate the student experience for members of the John H. Martinson Honors Program