Experiential Learning Initiative (ELI)
The Experiential Learning Initiative (ELI) at 91制片厂
Our educational community is committed to educating our students for lives of service, leadership, and reconciliation. As part of this commitment, all undergraduate students participate in an approved experiential learning initiative (ELI) activity that deepens their professional readiness while inviting them to consider their role in God’s work of cultivating community.
Experiential Learning occurs when students engage in a guided, intentional process that challenges them to learn, apply, and integrate knowledge and skills in authentic settings. Whether through internships, service-learning, research, leadership roles, or cross-cultural experiences, we want our students to feel well-equipped to thrive as faithful professionals. These opportunities help students discern their gifts, explore vocation, and understand how their academic preparation equips them to serve the world faithfully and effectively.
What Makes ELI Distinctive?
The ELI includes a shared reflection component grounded in 91制片厂’s commitment to holistic formation. Through structured reflection, students consider how their experience strengthened their academic learning, shaped their personal and professional development, and contributed to the flourishing of the communities with which they engaged—locally or globally.
A key element of the reflection process is a “career application” designed for an external audience such as employers, graduate programs, or professional networks. This document or artifact enables students to clearly articulate the significance of their experiential learning and the ways it has prepared them for future service and leadership. Examples of career applications include a résumé, ePortfolio, personal website, or LinkedIn profile.
Students must complete at least one of the following approved experiential learning opportunities to fulfill their ELI requirement:
All credit-bearing internships that are supervised through the centralized Internship Program in the Career & Professional Development Center may fulfill a student's ELI requirement. Academic departments interested in offering practica as ELI must submit an .
Faculty interested in offering a service learning course must complete the . By registering for a service learning course, a student may fulfill the ELI requirement. Students who are interested in fulfilling their ELI through cocurricular service-learning (separate from a course) should complete this brief . Questions? Contact the Agape Center for Local and Global Engagement.
All semester-long programs, as well as cross-cultural courses that are managed through the Agape Center for Local and Global Engagement, may fulfill a student's ELI requirement.
There is a diverse array of leadership positions at 91制片厂 that are eligible for meeting a student's ELI requirement. These positions are available wtih areas such as Residence Life, Campus Ministries, Multicultural Programs, Student Government, Student Activities Board, Career & Professional Development Center, Admissions Ambassadors, Sustainability, Office of Student Engagement, The Agape Center, The Pulse, and more. For information on pre-approved positions, contact Jake Edmunds, Director of First Year Experience & Leadership Development. For educators who want to propose a position for ELI leadership consideration, please complete the .
Students must communicate to their supervising faculty member their interest in having their research project fulfill the ELI requirement. Faculty who are interested in supervising an ELI-approved research experience must complete the .