Experiential Education - Earning Academic Credit
Experiential Education is designed to assist in connecting students and employers in developing career-related learning opportunities in an internship, cooperative education (co-op), volunteer, service-learning, or externship experiences. The classifications sometimes vary depending on the academic discipline. Experiential Education may be paid or unpaid, full-time or part-time, local, national, or international.
All positions are carefully supervised, professional-level, and structured in which the student sets intentional learning goals and actively reflects on what has been learned. These experiences can help students to clarify career goals, gain valuable professional-level experience, strengthen skills, and develop a professional network to positively impact job and graduate school outcomes.
Location
Stuckert Career Center
408 Rose St., Lexington, KY 40506
Virtual and In-person
Hours of Operation
Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm
Experiential Education Starts Here:
So, you are ready to take the knowledge that you have been obtaining from your coursework and in class activities and apply them to real world experiences. But maybe you are not sure where to get started to find an experience or maybe you need just a little more help. Either way you can find help right here at the Stuckert Career Center. Students can schedule a “Job Search Strategies” appointment through Handshake. The “Job Search Strategies” appointment is designed for you to learn about resources available to support your search and ways you can optimize your search process, whether you're seeking full-time employment, an internship, or another type of opportunity.
Experiential Education
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Experience Opportunities:
Academic Experiences:
- An academic experience indicates that a student will be seeking academic credit for a career-related experience.
- This process includes creating a Learning Contract, obtaining department approval, obtaining a UK Sponsor, submitting completed field hours, and receiving an employer evaluation.
- An academic experience may be either paid or unpaid. Academic experiences are typically done on a general elective, Pass/Fail basis with the number of acceptable credit hours determined by the student’s college or department.
Non-Credit Experiences:
- A non-credit experience implies that a student will be working for the benefit of experience gained, but not for any type of academic recognition.
- The employer is encouraged to consider the student as they would any other temporary employee.
- This option may be preferable to a student who does not need additional credit hours.
- Non-credit experiences are often paid in order to comply with U.S. Department of Labor laws.