INTRODUCTION

College of Arts & Sciences' Students

The faculty and administration of the College strongly believe that experiential education should be one of the most distinctive aspects the student’s career at Northeastern. Experiential education encompasses traditional NU opportunities such as co-op, as well as academic internships, study abroad, community service, field work, research collaborations with faculty, artistic performance, student-directed projects, and leadership of student organizations. Experiential education combines an important learn-by doing component and a reflection component, to help students understand the relationship between their studies and their careers, between living and learning. Though most students usually participate in more than one experiential activity by the time they graduate, it is because such experiences are so valuable that they are part of the academic program’s graduation requirements. This section of the Guidebook is intended to explain the experiential education requirement and highlight some of the way students may take advantage of experiential education opportunities on their path toward graduation.

Each of the departments in the College has one or more ways for students to fulfill the Experiential Education requirement. You should check with your major program to see which approaches would be most beneficial to you, with your unique background and goals.

We know that everyone learns best when directly engaged in his or her own learning. The experiential education requirement asks that you take a very active role in your education in many ways. However, you cannot complete the requirement or maximize your experiential education without assistance from your professors, co-op coordinator, advisors, and peers. It is for this reason that the College is pleased to support students through the Center for Experiential Education and Academic Advising (One Meserve Hall), which is devoted to expanding the College’s experiential opportunities. The Center not only coordinates a number of the programs detailed on this site, but also provides a limited number of scholarships and grants to assist students in pursuing worthy experiential education projects.

THE EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENT

To Whom Does the Requirement Apply?

Similar to the college Core Curriculum, the experiential education requirement is a college-wide requirement. All Arts and Sciences students must fulfill the requirement in order to graduate, effective with the graduating class of the year 2000.

What is the Requirement?

The requirement has two components:

1. an approved experiential "component" (e.g., co-op, academic internship, field work or practicum, study abroad, service learning project, significant student activity, and others related to courses that are part of the requirement), and
2. an academic component (for course credit) that is designed to allow the student to reflect upon and further develop the experiential component.

Some options span two or more semesters. In some majors, for instance, an experiential component will be completed in one semester and then be followed up in an academic course, drawing upon that component, in another semester. Under this option, students are considered to have fulfilled the requirement only when both components have been satisfactorily completed and a passing grade has been awarded. In other options, the academic course itself includes the relevant experiential component, and completing the course and receiving a passing grade thus fulfills the requirement. (See major programs, as well as the major programs’ requirement lists in the pink program requirements pages, of this guidebook.)

When Should You Begin to Plan for the Requirement?

The requirement should be planned by early in the middler year, if you are a co-op student, or junior year, if you are not in the co-op program. Students should contact the experiential education advisor in their major program during the fall semester of the appropriate year to discuss how they might fulfill the requirement. Since this requirement may involve more than simply enrolling in a standard academic course, students especially need to make specific plans if fulfilling the requirement involves two or more semesters. Even in programs in which the experiential component is part of the academic course, students may need to arrange their class schedules to accommodate the additional hours of outside work that the course would require.

Where Should You Get Advising on the Requirement?

Primary advising on the requirement resides with the departments in the College and with the faculty who serve as head advisors. They are familiar with their respective programs and work to guide students toward the best option, including any experiential component that students may wish to use in order to fulfill the requirement. Students are usually notified early in their middler or junior year about informational meetings or the need to schedule appointments with their advisor. It is, however, the responsibility of the student to be in contact with the advisor, as well as to follow through on completing the requirement.

Does the Requirement Apply to Students Who Transfer from Other Institutions?

Transfer students must complete the requirement at Northeastern. In some cases, an experiential component that transfer students have done at previous institutions may fulfill that part of the requirement, but students must petition for this. They should provide the appropriate documentation (e.g., transcripts, published descriptions, letters from supervising faculty, course syllabi, etc., from other colleges or universities) to their departmental experiential advisor and the dean’s office advisor in the Center for Experiential Education & Academic Advising in One Meserve Hall.

Does the Requirement Apply to Double or Dual Majors?

Students pursuing a double or dual major must fulfill the requriement but may do so in either major.

How Will You Be Cleared for Graduation?

Dean’s office academic advisors, located in the Center for Experiential Education & Academic Advising (One Meserve Hall), are available to provide general advice on the requirement. They will perform the final senior clearance review to ensure that you have fulfilled the requirement prior to graduation.

 

For your information, this guide can be accessed and will be periodically updated on the Internet at the Arts and Sciences home page.