One of the elements of the engaged learning model advocated by the National Survey of Student Engagement and the Association of American Colleges and Universities is experiential learning opportunities such as internships and other hands-on experiences. Eastern Connecticut State University’s new admissions tag-line, “A Liberal Education. Practically Applied.”, recognizes the role that practical, hands-on experiences play in Eastern’s liberal arts curriculum.
In the past, many Eastern graduates have had some form of practical experience — internships, student teaching, and other out-of-class experiences — but those opportunities have often been left up to the student to discover and implement.
Commencing with the graduating class of 2014, an applied experience is now a graduation requirement for all students at Eastern Connecticut State University. Experiences that will fulfill the requirement include internships, cooperative education placements, service learning and undergraduate research.
We are already moving ahead to increase such opportunities. This past year, students conducted fuel cell research on campus and marine biology research in Tahiti; produced videos for early childhood educators; built wind turbines for schools in Jamaica; interned at the Animal Planet in New York City and at the Connecticut State Capitol; and were in paid co-ops at such companies as United Technologies. Over the past few years, Eastern students have completed internships and paid cooperative education placements at more than 70 active locations, including CIGNA, ESPN, Disney, IBM, Merrill Lynch, Mystic Aquarium, NBC-30, Pratt and Whitney, the United Nations, and more. Students in majors ranging from biology to graphic design, accounting to psychology, communication, business, theatre and history are learning to practice and refine their skills, applying the fundamentals of their liberal arts education while gaining a competitive edge in the job market or graduate school admissions environment.
As our students translate the writing, project management and critical thinking skills learned in class to real-world settings, they are able to see the relevance of their classroom instruction. Even a case study in class cannot do that. We are finding that field experiences truly bring learning to life for a lot of students.
The progress we are making to become a premier public liberal arts university is not going unnoticed. This past August, we were informed that Eastern had made the list of the top 100 regional universities in the North by U.S. News and World Report. We were the 28th public institution on the list. Our university was also included on President Obama’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll and the Chronicle of Higher Education’s list of “Great Colleges to Work For,” both for the second year in a row. The Princeton Review also included Eastern on its list of 287 “Green Colleges” in the United States.
These recognitions reaffirm the relevance of our vision to be known as an outstanding public liberal arts university, providing a well-rounded liberal education that is practically applied.
