Your guide to experiential education
Welcome! I'm Jen, and I'm your experiential education advisor. Here you can learn about all the ways that you can take your education into your own hands!
What is experiential learning?
Experiential learning is also called hands-on learning. This type of learning works along with what students learn in the classroom to provide an opportunity to see knowledge in action.
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Housed within Career Services, experiential learning prepares students to take on careers in their desired fields through experience that they gain in relation to their coursework and majors.
Career Services aims to guide students in their journey to discovering their future vocation. Much of student learning occurs during class; however, for the learning that happens outside the classroom, Career Services and Experiential Education are here to support students in their learning, growth, and development.
Mission: Drawing from the ACPA and NASPA missions, the mission of career services is to ensure that students are holistically and equitably engaged throughout their university experience in experiential learning and career/vocation preparation.
Our goals include:
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Encouraging student development through hands-on education,
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Engaging with students from day one on campus through and after graduation,
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Ensuring that all student jobs and experiential education opportunities - be they internships, volunteer work, or research - are accessible to all students, meaningful and impactful to a student's education and development, and that they benefit the communities in which students are learning.
Career Services Mission & Goals
Common methods of experiential learning
Below you can find some information on how university students engage in experiential learning activities every semester!
Campus Leadership
Campus leadership involves any type of position on campus. Orientation leaders, resident assistants, peer advisors and tutors are just a few examples of campus leadership opportunities.
Internships
Internships are usually completed for credit, and can be done during the fall, spring, or summer. Internships involve work at an organization, particularly one in the student's field of study or related to their career interests.
Research & Fieldwork
Research is the general term referring to collection or analysis of data that takes place in an office, at a laboratory, or in the field. Fieldwork refers specifically to research conducted in the natural environment, versus being done in a lab.
Service-Learning
Service-learning involves coursework alongside service with an organization. Through readings, reflections, and hands-on activities, service-learning allows students the opportunity to both academically and experientially learn about local organizations and community needs.
Study Abroad
While Career Services does not work directly with education abroad opportunities, there are occasionally experiential education opportunities abroad - work with your study abroad advisor & career advisor to learn more!
Volunteering
Volunteering differs from service-learning in that it is normally done outside of an academic context and not for credit. Volunteering allows students to get to know their community and its needs in a more personal way.
Thank you for visiting!