Accessible experiential learning

McKelvey will augment our curricula to ensure that all our undergraduate and graduate students have the opportunity to participate in experiential or application-based learning. We know that experiential learning can equip students with vital skills and aptitudes, like design thinking, problem solving, communication, and teamwork, that they will need to be successful as future engineers and scholars. Additionally, experiential learning can allow students to connect their values and desire to make a difference with their academic experiences. Therefore, as a school, we will expand our approach to education by developing a road map of experiential learning opportunities that students can customize, integrating this road map into our existing program structures, and committing to making at least one experiential learning opportunity accessible to all undergraduate students regardless of their background or economic resources. 

We will ensure that experiential-learning opportunities, such as research, internships, co-ops, service-learning, and/or application-based projects, are accessible for all students. We will challenge our students, faculty, and staff to embrace the fact that learning happens in the classroom, the lab, the field, and the workforce. By offering various research, service learning, internships, co-ops, and growth experiences, McKelvey can offer a more holistic education for all our students.

Our Commitments

We will:

• Design experiential learning road maps and identify experiential learning opportunities for each of our degree programs.
• Ensure that our credit-for-experience policies align with encouraging the pursuit of experiential learning opportunities.
• Expand internship programs with selected industry partners.
• Develop engineering service-learning programs.
• Provide structures for students to reflect on the academic and personal growth engendered by their experiential learning opportunities.
• Develop a process to ensure that undergraduate students do not face financial or other obstacles to participate in experiential learning opportunities.

Why:

• There is a well-established body of research that shows the benefits of experiential learning. To ensure that our students are well prepared for their future work or scholarship, we must expose our students to learning experiences outside the classroom.
• To remain competitive with top-tier engineering programs, we must continue to provide valuable, well-designed educational experiences that take place in a variety of settings.
• Employers seek engineers who have varied and comprehensive skills and capabilities, including collaboration, business acumen, research, and problem solving. Experiential learning will allow our students to further develop these critical skills and become leaders in their fields.