Developing Experiential Learning in Organizations

My project, “Developing Experiential Experiences in Organizations,” assessed HDO students’ access to experiential learning
in organizations, particularly in the form of internships; additionally, our program aimed to provide more built-in
opportunities HDO students to engage in experiential learning. To gauge need, I surveyed HDO students. Results
demonstrated that many of our students were graduating without any organizational experience, especially first-generation
students and students from marginalized backgrounds. To provide more programmatic opportunities, I led two initiatives.
First, I added a student-service learning project in my sections of HDO 350: Identities in Organizations. Second, I engaged
HDO faculty to explore offering an internship-focused, credit-bearing course in HDO. Staffing constraints and curricular
credit challenges made in-house program untenable. However, we formed a productive partnership with Marc Pereira, who
directs Texas LEAD (https://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/leadership/index.php). HDO faculty worked with the College of
Liberal Arts to offer the Project Advance Austin program for course credit, available to all UT-Austin students, through LA
125 and LA 225: Career Field Exploration: Project Management. Providing course credit for this two-semester program will
enable more students to have access to high-quality organizational experiences with professional development
opportunities while also making progress on their degree. We are currently pursuing other ways to ensure access to
internship and job opportunities for HDO students through the development of an alumni program and LinkedIn page, by
encouraging programs such as UTNY and UTLA, and through a Global Career Launch program with Texas Global offering
internships abroad, with need-based scholarship support available.