Experiential Programs

Experiential education is an important element of the K-Plan, with on-campus and off-campus opportunities in both domestic and international settings. Study abroad, study away through domestic programs, service-learning, student research, internships and externships, the Guilds, and student activities and athletics are key curricular components of the K-Plan, and are supported by a variety of administrative departments on campus.

First-Year Experience

The intentional weaving together of hands-on involvement, experiential learning, and mentorship within the context of a rigorous academic life is the hallmark of our First-Year Experience (FYE). Kalamazoo College was named one of thirteen "Institutions of Excellence in the First College Year" by the National Policy Center on the First Year of College and is featured in Achieving and Sustaining Institutional Excellence for the First Year of College (Jossey-Bass, 2005). US News & World Report has recognized Kalamazoo's First-Year Experience as a "program that really works." FYE at Kalamazoo College helps students:

• achieve academic success,
• identify and pursue passions,
• connect with Kalamazoo College and the greater Kalamazoo communities,
• construct complex intercultural understandings, and
• develop a purpose-filled and balanced life.

The FYE program includes orientation activities, participating in Summer Common Reading, taking a First-Year Seminar, and attending First-Year Forum activities throughout the fall quarter.

Center for Career and Professional Development

The Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) empowers students to identify and secure experiences that will help them clarify their career aspirations, broaden their networks, and hone their professional skills, so that they are well prepared to step confidently into life after Kalamazoo College.

To support students in their career development, the CCPD offers a variety of programs throughout the calendar year (the Discovery Externship Program and Field Experience Program in the summer months, and recruiting events, networking opportunities, and the annual Professional Development Institute during the academic year).  The CCPD's staff also offers services including individual counseling appointments, peer advising, career assessment tools, résumé and cover letter critiques, practice interviews, and a variety of workshops and events.

Housed in the CCPD, the Kalamazoo College Guilds are communities of practice that bring together students, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the College around common professional interests. For students, Guilds connect elements of the K-Plan into a more integrated educational experience and develop networks and professional relationships useful after graduation.

Center for International Programs

Every study abroad program at Kalamazoo College is unique, but each offers challenging course work in an education system whose values and methods reflect those of the local culture, opportunities for integrative cultural experiences, and structured opportunities for using the local language(s) both in and out of the classroom. As the academic, language, and other specific qualifications differ from program to program, it is imperative that students carefully read the program descriptions and Study Abroad Handbook, available from the Center for International Programs (CIP).

GLCA Domestic Study Away Programs

Kalamazoo College students who meet appropriate qualifications are eligible to apply for participation in a fine arts program in New York City, a fall quarter seminar at the Newberry Library in Chicago, an urban studies program at The Philadelphia Center, a semester program on the U.S.-Mexico border through the Border Studies Program, and a science/social science term at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. College faculty members serve as liaison advisers to these programs. Students interested in the GLCA programs should consult with the appropriate faculty advisor or the Center for International Programs.

Service-Learning

About three-fourths of Kalamazoo College students participate in programs with the nationally recognized Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning. students work with community partners in the city and immediate region to address community-identified issues such as disparities in health and education, migrant rights, prison reform, community arts, food systems and food justice, sustainability, and neighborhood development. Collaborating with over 40 community organizations and grass-roots groups, students conduct research and outreach, develop community gardens, make films, work with Kalamazoo Public School students, create health education materials, make art and poetry wtih community members, and more - all in the context of ongoing partnerships designed in collaboration with the community. Each year, faculty offer over 20 community-based courses across the disciplines. Every week over 200 students work - as volunteers or through federal work study - in ongoing programs that Civic Engagement Scholars lead and coordinate.  In the summer, we offer six-week, fully-funded Community Based Internships in Kalamazoo. All service-learning programs emphasize civic, academic, and personal growth within the a social justice context. We require all service-learning students to engage in structured reflection in order to make critical connections between service and learning, theory and practice, the global and the local, and the elements of their individualized "K Plan." In every partnership we emphasize collaborative learning and offer plentiful opportunities for student leadership and community transformation.

LAC Program

Each year the Liberal Arts Colloquium endorses approximately 75 public events. This open forum hosts lectures by prominent scholars, concerts by renowned musicians, performances by important artists, panel discussions by experts convened to address social issues, talks by experts and emerging artists, and annual events to commemorate historical figures and cultural holidays. The program contributes to campus life by celebrating, in the spirit of critical inquiry and aesthetic appreciation, the ongoing pursuit of knowledge, artistic innovation, intercultural understanding, and moral inquiry. By convening Kalamazoo College's learning community around such events, the LAC forum reinforces the idea that public deliberation and artistic appreciation are essential for a lifelong commitment to civic responsibility and vocational readiness.