Experiential Education at Rutgers Camden Action Plan for an Integrated Experiential Campus. Goal for Experiential Education at Rutgers Camden

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1 Experiential Education at Rutgers Camden Action Plan for an Integrated Experiential Campus Goal for Experiential Education at Rutgers Camden In order to provide students with transformative learning experiences and pathways to rewarding careers, Rutgers Camden strives to position itself as an integrated experiential campus and national leader in experiential education. Such a campus attends to the totality of an undergraduate student s experience--academic coursework, co-curricular activities, internships, research, study abroad, engaged civic learning, etc.--and curates those experiences into a meaningful, cohesive education through close student-faculty-staff interaction. Desired Outcomes Students will intentionally seek out opportunities for experiential education. Faculty, staff, and students will regularly collaborate on experiential endeavors connected to research, discovery, practice, participation, and/or positive change Academic and administrative units will view experiential education as central to their work. They will intentionally facilitate student engagement in experiential education. Experiential endeavors will have impacts on students, faculty, and staff. These endeavors will change perspectives and will yield cutting-edge research, socially conscious action, integrative learning, personal development, and career connections and pathways for students. Prospective students will seek out Rutgers University Camden because of its reputation for experiential education. Objectives to realize desired outcomes 1. Grow and deepen student involvement in experiential education. 2. Increase the number and variety of experiential education offerings and improve the quality of all experiential education offerings, in terms of teaching and learning. 3. Foster collaboration in experiential education among faculty, staff, students, and external entities; foster collaboration across disciplines. 4. Establish and promote a shared understanding of experiential education at Rutgers University Camden for internal and external audiences. Motivate and incentivize faculty, students, staff, external partners, and prospective students to participate.

2 Strategic Areas & Coordinated Actions to achieve objectives 1. Faculty, curriculum, and program development a. Department-level curricular review Engage academic departments in XPL-focused curricular reviews. Encourage and support development and inclusion of experiential courses as important elements of majors and programs. Incentivize implementation of experiential courses through graduate fellows program. Output 1: Within one year, engage in dialogue with each department to formalize a department-level approach to development and promotion of XPL courses. Output 2: Within one year, identify all existing courses, by department/program that qualify as XPL; tag courses as such. Objective directly served: Objective 2 b. XPL Incubator Grants Create grant fund modeled after the Civic Engagement Faculty Fellows Program. Encourage faculty to develop new experiential courses. Incentivize collaboration in course design across disciplines and, in some cases, with staff and students. Output: Fund the development and implementation of 10 XPL courses within one year c. XPL Course mini-grants Create grant fund designed to support experiential endeavors within courses. Promote fund as a resource to support activities such as field trips or acquisition of supplies for practical projects. Output: Within one year, provide support funds to five courses that will facilitate/increase/enhance experiential endeavors. Objective(s) directly served: Objective 2 d. Think Tank Fellows/ Ventures Program Create grant fund designed to support team (faculty/staff/student) travel to national XPL conferences and to report back on their findings. These teams would form the backbone of a year-long think tank, including select other faculty, staff, and students on campus, around a specific cuttingedge practice or set of practices in XPL. Output: Establish an ongoing avenue for collaboration among students, faculty, & staff. Support first collaboration by Summer Objective(s) directly served: Objectives 2, 3, and 4 e. Best practices workshops and XPL special events Host workshops on experiential pedagogy, reflection modes and reflective practice, faculty and staff presentations on their experiments in XPL, and guest speakers and trainers. Output: Implement four best practices workshops to support XPL pedagogy and innovation f. Cultivation of XPL partnerships, flex and study away programs Build and strengthen partnerships between Rutgers University Camden and external organizations--such as the Washington Center--that provide unique opportunities in experiential education. Explore innovative ways to

3 stage XPL on and off campus, such as through flex semesters (use of summer/winterim/spring break, etc.) and study away (domestic travel). Output 1: Pilot one unique endeavor within one year Output 2: Within one year, develop a scalable protocol for future expansion g. ECL/XPL-centered freshman experience Develop a freshman experience course that integrates experiential methods and sets students up for an undergraduate career of hands-on engagement. Output: Develop freshman experience course in Fall 2017/Spring 2018, in order to pilot one or two sections of the course in Fall h. ECL/XPL-centered learning communities Explore potential for experiential learning communities, within and/or across academic programs and co-curricular activities, and potentially linking them to the freshman experience course. Output: Develop framework for learning communities in Fall 2017/Spring 2018, in order to pilot in Fall i. Pilot e-portfolio system Pilot e-portfolio systems to enhance student learning in experiential engagements (and beyond) and to provide students a marketable product in career pursuits that best balances ease of use, flexibility, and quality. Output: Pilot e-portfolio program for students in the Civic Engagement and Social Change Certificate program in Fall Aim for wider implementation in Fall Staff collaboration and program/professional development a. Administrative program reviews Engage administrative units in program reviews that foster coherent strategy to make Rutgers University Camden an integrated experiential campus. Output: Produce intentional and coordinated strategies, which support experiential education, in and across key administrative units, within one year. Objective(s) directly served: Objectives 3 and 4 b. Think Tank/ Ventures Program Integrate staff in team initiatives, including incubator grants and think tank fellows/ventures program. Output: See output 1d. Objective(s) directly served: Objectives 2, 3, and 4 c. Staff integration in curriculum and program development Integrate staff in best practice workshops, funding opportunities (e.g., mini-grants), and XPL Special Events. Output: See outputs 1b and 1e. d. Experiential Programmers Collaborative

4 Launch a standing council of program staff--from experiential learning, engaged civic learning, learning and study abroad, undergraduate research, internships, etc.--to collaboratively advance experiential education at Rutgers University Camden. Output: By Fall 2017, produce coordinated strategy to inform campuswide approach to experiential education, especially for administrative units. Collaboratively enact strategy, reaching all relevant on- and offcampus entities by Spring Objective(s) directly served: Objective 3 3. Student advising, development, and support a. XPL-infused academic advising/career counseling Support campus units in a review of student advising, in light of a campus-wide effort toward experiential education. Devise a holistic advising approach that integrates academic and administrative units and assists students to turn their experiences into meaningful careers and future well-being. Output: In collaboration with the Career Center, advising offices, and programmers collaborative (see 2d) devise a coordinated strategy, within one year, for faculty and staff to support students engagement with experiential education throughout their time at Rutgers. Objective(s) directly served: Objectives 1 and 3 b. Promotional materials, social media strategy, and information sessions Market experiential education across campus in order to inform students about experiential opportunities and to motivate them to get involved. Connect with students in print, online, and in-person to meet students where they are and to capture the widest possible audience. Output: Launch website that informs and promotes experiential education, by Fall Produce marketing materials for student information sessions by Fall Build social media presence by Spring c. Funding program for unpaid internships Provide students funding opportunities to partake in unpaid internships. This may take the form of a semester-long stipend and/or funding via work-study. Output: Fund at least ten student internships (that would otherwise be unpaid) within one year. Objective(s) directly served: Objectives 1 and 4 d. Learn-by-doing competition and Action Research Grants Provide opportunities and incentivize students to pursue publicly engaged scholarship and arts. Provide students who take part in such activities funding to support their ventures. Celebrate student achievements annually. Output: Conduct a review of existing funding opportunities for undergraduate research and CURCA. Produce an actionable strategy, among XPL and key units, to coordinate and enhance programs that promote undergraduate research. Objective(s) directly served: Objectives 1 and 4 e. Student Professional Development

5 Through Incubator Grants and the Think Tank Fellows// Ventures Program, enable students to develop professional skills involved in XPL in a mentored environment. Output: See outputs 1b and 1d. Objective(s) directly served: Objectives 2, 3, and 4 f. Pilot an e-portfolio system Choose an e-portfolio system to enhance student learning in experiential engagements (and beyond) and to provide students a marketable product in career pursuits that best balances ease of use, flexibility, and quality. Output: Pilot e-portfolio program for students in the Civic Engagement Certificate and Social Change program in Fall Aim for wider implementation in Fall Branding, Marketing, and Evaluation a. Rutgers Camden Advantage Build the brand of experiential learning at Rutgers University Camden and vet the Rutgers Camden Advantage campaign aimed at external audiences, to position Rutgers Camden as a premier experiential university. Output: Build XPL brand by designing a logo for experiential education and producing print and electronic marketing materials within one year. b. XPL Culture Collaborate with offices of Admissions and New Student Programs to attract students, based on experiential education, and to initiate new students into a culture of experiential education on campus. Output: Produce and promote student recruitment and orientation strategies related to experiential education, within one year. c. XPL website hub and social media Launch website and social media presence in order to message XPL opportunities to students electronically. Hub will provide information for students, faculty, staff, external partners, and prospective students, and feature stories, information on best practices, upcoming events, marketing materials, etc. Output: Launch website that informs and promotes experiential education, by Fall Build social media presence by Spring d. End-of year award program for Best in XPL Launch end-of-year awards for experiential education. Honor student, faculty, and staff contributions to making Rutgers Camden an integrated experiential campus. Output: Confer first annual best in XPL awards to one student, one staff member, and one faculty member by the end of Spring e. Data, stories, impact, dissemination Audit XPL on campus, collect data and stories to: 1) inform and refine practice; and 2) demonstrate the impact of experiential education at Rutgers University Camden. Regularly feature such products on website

6 and other campus spaces. Assemble data and stories into annual impact report. Output: In collaboration with academic and administrative departments, design a plan to collect data quantitative and qualitative on experiential endeavors, by the beginning of Spring This plan will seek to collect data both to inform and refine practice and to promote our successes. Objective(s) directly served: Objectives 1 and 4