The Office of Experiential Learning: Connecting students to culture and careers

by Talik Hill, Staff Writer

Director of Experiential learning, Dr. Judy Orton Grissett, explains how the Office of Experiential Learning emphasizes culture on campus and how they can aid current and graduating students with career readiness. The pictures below were provided by the Office of Experiential learning.

Can you describe what the Capstone (INTL 3900) is about and the course assignments that students would have to do?

“The capstone course is intended to be a completion experience following the attendance of six Windows to the World events, so after students attend six Windows to the World events they are enrolled in this capstone course. If a student came to GSW before Fall 2019 they are expected to write an essay that pulls together experiences of attending them as well as taking a cultural competence & awareness survey. Now, we’ve changed it that if a student came to GSW after Fall 2019 or later, they only have to do the survey, so it’s two different experiences for students depending on when they came to GSW, but both experiences focus on the cultural competence they’ve developed through the Window to the World program. For students that came before 2019, they had to take a brief survey at the end of the event, we don’t do that any longer and the questions asked made the student reflect on their experience and what they learned. What I meant by survey was that it’s a questionnaire of sorts that they had to complete afterward.”

How can students apply for study abroad Programs and what course assignments should students expect to work on?

“Presently, the University 4000 class goes on a multi-week trip during the semester, so they would be gone for two weeks and they would have two pre-trip meetings where they would talk about the country and its history, and they tend to be long, around about 4 hours long. So, it’s also about the people, culture, geography, etc. Then, they go on the trip and depending on the professor, they may have a reading that they would have to do on the trip that’s usually about the country and then, once they return from the multi week trip they will work on their presentations for the campus, describing their trip.”

What recommended methods, websites and/or resources do you encourage students to use who are struggling to find a job?

“We are in the process of offering a platform called HandShake and we are supposed to implement that over the summer and students should have access to it in the fall. HandShake will be a place where students can go into and find job and internship postings. Until we have access to HandShake, students can contact me. I get a lot of job postings so I can help to connect students with jobs they aren’t aware of. Students could also email careers@ gsw.edu. The people who work in career readiness, they have access to different jobs. As far as online resources, right now, I would say Indeed is probably your best place, as well as LinkedIn.”

Are students still able to contact you for help with job search after they’ve graduated?

“Yes, we are in the process of increasing the number of career readiness tools and support systems for our students. So when students graduate they can reach out to me, there’s also alumni affairs that they can connect with, and I’ve been working with alumni affairs and they can also connect with the careers@gsw.edu, which is an email address that students can contact to learn more about anything like resumes, or to find a job, etc. In the near future, we will have more tools in that area, HandShake being one of them, but also more support staff that could help them, that’s a priority that GSW is working towards right now.”