Navigation
Search

Experiential Learning Committee Recommendations 2024-2025

2024-25 Interdivisional Experiential Learning (EL) Committee

  • Austin Busch, Honors College
  • Joe Chesebro, Communication
  • Thomas Chew, Academic Success Center & Senate Representative
  • Ruth Childs, Theatre & Music Studies (Spring 2025)
  • Keith Davis, Global Education & Engagement
  • Madison Hiddie, Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching, & Scholarship (Spring 2025)
  • Frank Kuhn, Theatre & Music Studies (Fall 2024)
  • Catie Lalonde, Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching, & Scholarship (Co-Chair)
  • Emily Marchese, Career Design Center (Co-Chair)
  • Laurel McNall, Psychology (Co-Chair)
  • Keith Nobles, Professional Education Unit
  • Pam O’Keefe, School of Business and Management
  • Karen Podsiadly, Student Union, Leadership & Activities
  • Adam Rich, Biology

We acknowledge and appreciate administrative support from Kim Price, Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching, & Scholarship.

Charge with Action Taken

  • Begin rebuilding infrastructure for experiential learning with a) a new webpage with a point-of-contact list for experiential learning and b) guidelines for a small grant program to support course-based engaged learning activities.
  • Begin rebuilding faculty/staff/student connections by a) learning more about the Engaged EAGLE program and b) considering student participation/tracking/incentives for engaged learning.
    • Action 1: We convened a subcommittee that includes representation from the EL committee and First Six Weeks/Engaged Eagle Committee to share progress on the Engaged EAGLE program.
  • Revise a faculty/staff recognition program for experiential learning that is less onerous than current processes and create a Brockport version of a faculty development program related to one form of experiential learning.
    • Action 1: A new Excellence in Experiential Learning (EEL) Award will start in Spring 2026. This will be nested within other internal awards (e.g., Faculty-Student Engagement (FSE) Award; Outstanding Academic Advisement (OAA) Award). The EEL Award application process will mirror other internal awards that were revised to involve a less onerous process and fewer documents submitted for consideration.
    • Action 2: Applications for the Provost Faculty Fellowship – Project-Based Learning will be accepted in Fall 2025.

Subcommittee Reports

During the Spring 2025 semester, three subcommittees were created to address specific concerns related to a) Student Opportunities (Co-Leads: Karen, Emily, Madi), b) All Things CELT (Co-Leads: Catie & Madi) and c) EL Roadshow (Co-Leads: Laurel & Emily).

Subcommittee #1: Student Opportunities

  • This subcommittee primarily focused on the use of the Engaged EAGLE program to promote and track student engagement as it relates to EL.
    • The Growth (G), Learning (L) and Excellence (E) badges within Engaged EAGLE correspond with EL pathways, and therefore the EL Committee should have a role in promoting, verifying, and tracking student participation in these areas.
      • Established programs that achieve G, L, or E will be tracked via MyBrockport.
      • Participation in one-off or independently identified experiences can be submitted via Machform by a faculty/staff member and/or the participating student. These submissions will be reviewed by the subcommittee.
  • The subcommittee also discussed opportunities for Student Employment as a High Impact Practice, or “Enhanced Student Employment.” Enhanced Student Employment roles will be piloted next academic year within APEX (Academics, Professions & Exploration) courses and the Theater Department.
    • We support the idea of a course to accompany Enhanced Student Employment, and will propose again to Senate in Fall 2025. For the Fall semester, professional development workshops will be offered in lieu of this course.

Subcommittee #2: All Things CELT

  • This subcommittee focused on finalizing items mentioned above: the Excellence in Experiential Learning (EEL) award process, the EL Fellowship, and the Innovation Micro Grant process.
    • The EEL award eligibility requirements, application process, and spring 2026 semester start were all reviewed, modified and approved. Since the EEL award will be an internal award, it will circulate for nominations in early February at the same time as the Faculty-Student Engagement (FSE) and Outstanding Academic Advisement (OAA) awards, using similar MachForms for all nominations and applications, as they are already familiar to faculty and staff.
    • The EL Fellowship details and timeline were reviewed and approved. A series of Daily Eagle articles will introduce faculty to the EL Fellowship in May 2025, so that they can prepare an application for the fall 2025 deadline.
    • The Innovation Micro Grant details and timeline were reviewed and approved – 10 proposals are under review by the subcommittee, who discussed them on April 30th. Questions for proposers have been sent and are under consideration. Approved proposals were sent to the Provost and Emily.

Subcommittee #3: EL Roadshow

  • This subcommittee focused on disseminating an asset mapping/tracking spreadsheet to campus (specifically to Chairs & Directors) to document what is happening on campus. Faculty will be able to report new experiences with this form. We also discussed our messaging across campus and via webpages to ensure consistency with our talking points and to share our new definition of EL.

Lessons Learned from 2024-25

  • Maintain Committee Structure, but Look to Expand: The interdivisional nature of this committee has been a strength and members reported this has been some of the most action-oriented conversations on EL. Moving forward, the larger, core committee needs regular touchpoints (e.g., meetings once a month) but we learned it is also important to break into subcommittees/working groups to stay focused and action-oriented. Continuity of committee membership would be appreciated as well as maintaining a strong connection with SULA and the First Six Weeks committee as Engaged Eagle efforts take off. At the same time, we need to continue to bring new members of campus into the fold and can do so with an expansion of subcommittees/working groups that contain members who are “on the ground” and engaged in the work.
  • Increase Campus Awareness and Marketing with Consistent Messaging to Move Beyond the Committee: Despite significant progress this year, there is still a sense of limited awareness of the committee and our work. Beyond Daily Eagle postings, stories in The Port, and the revised webpage, we need a roadshow/campaign that includes going into department and staff meetings in both Academic and Student Affairs, with consistent and coherent talking points (see Appendix A). This will help us share updates and learn what we are missing in a more systematic way. This messaging is also important for top administrators.
    • A 10-minute presentation that includes important points and links to the Engaged Eagle program could help.
    • Educating members of the marketing group to make explicit connections between their storytelling and EL is essential.
    • These same efforts also apply to educating our students on EL to help them connect the dots. These efforts are underway with pre-experiential learning curriculum in APEX.
    • The webpage, while up and running, perhaps could be more efficiently organized/designed. For instance, it could benefit from a forms center so individuals develop habits on where to share important EL information. There may be other opportunities to make it more effective as well.
  • Increase New Initiatives but Maintain Support of Existing Programs: As new initiatives unfold, it is important to also continue support for existing programs to ensure these resources do not go away (e.g., funds for unpaid internships, increased support for faculty engaged in the SURP). We need to prioritize keeping existing EL programs healthy as we continue to develop new initiatives. Perhaps the EL committee could apply for campus-wide investments funds as appropriate.
  • Centralization: To accomplish our goals regarding EL, it will be necessary for the Committee to serve as a hub for gathering and disseminating information. This will support determining what “counts” as EL within a given pathway, establishing mechanisms to track participation, and creating processes to assure that data is regularly updated. We hope that this will also facilitate greater sharing of best practices, resources, and general support for EL. Ultimately, this goal aims to accurately demonstrate the excellent work already being done through EL, while also illuminating potential areas of growth.
  • Funding the EL Committee: The committee did not have a budget this year, but appreciated and benefited from the visit of Dr. Marianna Savoca from SUNY Stony Brook. In the future, it would be helpful to have a budget to carry EL work forward.
    • Both a kickoff and wrap up event, with not only committee members but EL pathway subcommittees/working groups, would be helpful to energize the group, build connections, and showcase stories. This could be done with food and high-quality swag to recognize the labor of this work.
    • A budget could also be utilized to recognize commitment to and excellence in implementing EL by faculty and staff on an on-going basis.

Suggested Charge for 2025-26

  • Develop definitions for each EL pathway and continue the build out of the webpage for those pathways.
    • Subcommittees/work groups would be created for each EL pathway, and at least one member of that subcommittee would be comprised of an individual currently engaged in the work to inform the process and barriers, with support from an EL co-lead.
  • Identify individuals for grants, awards, and fellowships related to EL as part of the ongoing work of the committee.
    • Members of the committee (or a different subcommittee/working group) would be responsible for:
      • Reviewing Innovation Micro Grant applications on a regular basis and selecting winners.
      • Reviewing EL Fellowship applications and selecting winners and identifying a new EL pathway for the next round.
      • Ensuring the EL Grant and Excellence in EL Award are marketed, applications are reviewed, and winners are identified.
  • Develop a repository of stories related to EL for marketing.
    • The committee will continue to work with the web team to offer spotlights on faculty and student work to keep content fresh.
  • Establish a campaign for EL with a new or existing fund so donors can direct money towards EL efforts.
  • Consider ways to host more informal opportunities for faculty and staff to come together and share innovative best practices around various EL pathways.
  • Collaborate with Institutional Research (IR) to align current tracking of EL participation with SUNY standards and establish processes to assure maintenance of accurate data moving forward.

Meeting notes are available upon request.

Appendix A - Experiential Learning (EL) Talking Points (Spring 2025)

Acknowledge the past:

  • Work related to Engaged Learning has been done in starts and stops.
  • HIP attributes have been tagged in different courses.
    • This process needs to be done continuously to ensure accuracy.
    • We need accurate information to advise students appropriately.
  • EL needs to be embedded in our culture and this has been challenging.

Why EL work matters:

  • For Students: We know EL makes a meaningful difference in the lives of our students in terms of satisfaction, career readiness, and other important outcomes.
  • For Faculty/Staff: EL can make teaching more rewarding, if supported.
  • For the University: EL connects with the campus climate results and the strategic plan.

What is EL at Brockport?

  • Experiential Learning is a planned educational process where individuals engage in hands-on activities, reflect on their experiences, and apply insights to relevant contexts.
  • Experiential Learning website

What is the role of the EL committee at Brockport?

  • The goal of the committee is to increase EL opportunities for our students.
  • How will we do this?
    • We believe there is excellent work going on at Brockport that is often unnoticed. We will look for ways to make EL work more visible so people can be recognized and rewarded.
    • We believe faculty and staff need dedicated support to do EL work well. We will look to provide guidance and feedback as well as create a pipeline of EL champions.

What is new about EL at Brockport?

  • The EL committee is collaborating with SULA and the First Six Weeks/Engaged Eagle Committee.
  • Resources have been committed to move this work forward:
    • Madi Hiddie is the Experiential Learning Program Coordinator at CELT.
    • The Innovation Micro-Grant is now available. An EL grant and an Excellence in EL award are forthcoming.
    • The Provost Faculty Fellowship for project-based learning is starting next academic year. Other Experiential Learning pathways will be included in future rounds.
    • Funds exist to support unpaid internships.