For the Office of Experiential Learning, previously known as EXCEL (Experiential Courses and Engaged Learning), a new name is only one of the changes and evolutions helping improve student access to hands-on experiences. 

While their operations might be best known for providing internships, Experiential Learning provides a wider umbrella of student employment and service-learning opportunities, co-ops, experiential learning courses and more, said Mallory Bower, director of experiential learning.

Tina Cooper, recently promoted to associate director of the Experiential Learning office, has spearheaded efforts to provide students with more paid internship opportunities, including through two years of funding via SUNY’s Internship Impact Fund. 

Bower credited Cooper with expanding the office’s operations and vision in the previous seven years as an internship and student coordinator. 

“She has increased the quality of student experiences and is responsible for growing and strengthening our on-campus internship program,” Bower said. “She has contributed significantly to SUNY Oswego’s experiential learning policies, processes and curriculum.”

The SUNY Internship Impact fund has brought more than $480,000 to campus in the past two years to support paid internships and increased services.

As somebody well-respected in the field –- president of the SUNY Career Development Organization, and the chair of the SUNY Applied Learning Community of Practice –- Cooper is always working with others to find solutions and opportunities, Bower said.

Morgan Buchanan recently joined the staff as the new internship coordinator for an office that helps 500 students per year find internships, on average. The position was also partially supported by the Internship Impact Fund.

Buchanan said first-year students have the opportunity to apply for student employment experiences to jump-start their experience. Most first-year students participate in a credit-bearing first-year seminar, GST104: “Experiential Learning in College.” Once they get to sophomore status, service-learning opportunities provide an experience that both engages them in community service and earns them upper-division credit. 

Internships are available to juniors and seniors for the career of their choice. The Experiential Learning office assists students in discovering what that looks like for each student.

“Our whole ethos is to get you experience, to get you credit, to get you paid when it makes sense to,” Buchanan said. “Students need that valuable experience. We create opportunities on campus for internship, and service learning.”

Providing paid internships

The impact fund has boosted students who previously had to choose between an unpaid internship that could help their future and working paid jobs to support their education and living expenses.

“Originally on campus, one-third of our internships were paid. Now we’re up to two-thirds paid,” Buchanan said. “We find established running, reoccurring internships that were originally unpaid and they make them paid for a number of students.”

The impact fund is also used for living stipends to help students in need.

“Students were able to apply for living stipends, whether they needed help with bills, education, or transportation,” said Jennifer Joyce, the office’s service learning coordinator. She said finding the right experience includes students researching which direction they want to take in their career.

The office’s services impact students beyond their undergraduate years, as many are hired by employers where they intern. Cooper and Buchanan both had on-campus internships and worked in the Compass as student employees, and realized that serving students’ futures was what they wanted to do for a living. 

“Being able to connect students to the work that they’ve done, to the work that they can do, they can succeed in different places on campus,” Joyce said. “We’re really lucky that we were able to keep students within our office and I mean, they’re doing amazing things.”

‘An exciting feeling’

Senior Katelyn Baez served as a marketing intern in Intercollegiate Athletics in fall 2024. The Experiential Learning Office assisted Baez throughout the process of selecting an internship that best aligns with her career goals.

Baez credits the office for “helping you build steps and goals to reach by the end of the semester, and it also allows you to reflect while you collaborate with your faculty sponsor,” Baez said. “It's an exciting feeling to strengthen those bonds within the school and allow faculty and administration to help you and guide you on where you need to go to reach your career path.”

This office ensures that students are prepared to overcome any challenges that come with finding the best placement and path for a student's career choice.

“We’re here to help every bit of the way,” Joyce said. “We have a student-guided website to guide you through the steps you need to get an internship, but if at any point you get stuck, we’re here to guide you as well.”

Buchanan said Experiential Learning also caters to students and creates opportunities outside of the opportunities that exist. The office utilizes the professionals on campus to connect with companies that can offer internships.

The office also coordinates the new Empire State Service Corps program, a SUNY initiative that provides students with opportunities to receive paid placements in programs supporting the public good.

Beyond internships, staff want students to know that their office coordinates and supports a number of programs, including student employment and work-study, as well as opportunities to earn academic credit for service programs. The Campus Opportunities Expo every semester and regular drop-in hours offer great ways to make connections and find possible paths.

The Campus Opportunities Expo returns from 2 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12, on the Marano Campus Center concourse, to support students seeking paid on-campus employment, internships, service-learning, peer mentoring, work-study, volunteer or other openings.

As the Experiential Learning Office continues to expand its programs and resources, its efforts aim to transition students into professionals with careers. For more information, email experience@oswego.edu or visit their office in the Compass (145 Marano Campus Center) – especially during daily drop-in hours.

–- Written by Roxana Dolores of the Class of 2024