Academic Program Support
A Berea education is built on the understanding that learning happens both inside and outside the classroom, and that the two are meant to reinforce one another. One of the Work College Program's core learning goals is helping students connect their work-learning experience directly to their academic program, recognizing that the skills a student sharpens in the classroom, critical thinking, communication, problem-solving, are the very same skills they will rely on in their work-learning position, and later, in their career.
This connection is intentional, not incidental. A student's work-learning experience is not something that happens alongside their education at Berea; it is part of it. This section describes the specific ways that connection is made formal, through Active Learning Experiences, internships, and undergraduate research, each of which gives a student a structured way to bring their academic and work-learning experiences together into one coherent educational journey.
Active Learning Experience (ALE)
Active Learning Experiences are a requirement of the General Education Program and provide opportunities for students to explore the connections among different venues for learning, including coursework, work-learning, service, research, and internships. Every ALE must include:
- Learning through sustained, continual engagement in, reflection on, and assessment of an experience;
- The use of knowledge, imagination, and judgment to address questions in a novel context; and
- Exploration of the connections between theory and practice, and between learning in courses and learning outside the classroom.
Recognizing the strong capacity for experiential learning within the Work College Program, the College allows a student's work-learning position to serve as a platform for completing an ALE in one of two ways:
- As an academic course through the Internship Office; or
- As a non-credit experience that satisfies the basic ALE requirement. A proposal for this option must demonstrate a clear and strong connection between the work performed and the academic discipline through which it is studied.
An ALE completed through the Work College Program requires a faculty sponsor and a supervisor co-sponsor, who work with the student to develop, guide, and assess the experience. Supervisors are not required to participate in this program, but doing so adds an element of learning to the workplace and encourages collaboration between the academic program and the Work College Program.
Internships
Following their first year, students are encouraged to seek summer employment and internship opportunities to gain hands-on experience in the profession of their choice. Most employers use the term "internship" to describe any short-term, college-related work experience.
The Internship Program is an experiential education opportunity, individually designed for a student with a specific academic interest that requires integrating classroom learning with practical experience. The program includes on-campus seminars with an academic sponsor, along with non-classroom experience, and is open to students with sophomore status or above. The Associate Director of Internships coordinates the program and helps faculty and students identify and pursue an appropriate placement, whether for academic credit or non-credit. More information is available at BeyondBerea.org.
An internship can take place at any time, though most Berea students pursue one during the summer. Some agencies pay students for their work, while others offer only the experience itself. For students pursuing an unpaid opportunity, College funds may be available at an hourly rate equivalent to on-campus summer scholarship earnings; contact the Associate Director of Internships for details. Additional funding, such as the Experiential Education Fund administered through the Office of Student Financial Aid Services, provides stipends for travel and personal expenses.
For more on the career support available throughout your time at Berea, including through the Office of Internships and Career Development, see the Career Readiness and Development section of this handbook.
Undergraduate Research and Creative Projects Program (URCPP)
The Work College Program provides funding for the Undergraduate Research and Creative Projects Program, a mentor-apprentice summer program with the following goals:
- To enhance student learning through challenging, collaborative, and directed projects in an apprentice-mentor relationship with faculty
- To foster student-faculty interaction in creative work
- To help students understand the interplay between collaboration and independent thought and action in a complex, open-ended project
- To strengthen students' communication skills
- To provide experience that supports future research, learning, or creative opportunities, such as off-campus summer research programs or international learning opportunities
- To help students build the self-confidence to pursue careers and further study beyond Berea
- To provide experience that helps students make informed career and graduate school decisions
Students participating in URCPP gain valuable research experience. Projects are faculty-initiated and coordinated through the Office of the Academic Vice President. A student may not be enrolled in a course while pursuing a URCPP experience.