Drexel University’s Office of the Provost has announced a new winter enrollment program called Experiential Edge that will begin in fall 2018. The new initiative, created in consultation with the Division of Enrollment Management, will be available for a select group of applicants in art history, culinary arts and science, entertainment and arts management, and nutrition science.
Experiential Edge creates a new category of admission for pre‐enrolled students to have hands-on, experiential learning during their first 10 weeks in Philadelphia. They will attend orientation events and career planning workshops, and will also receive an in-depth introduction to degree-specific opportunities in Philadelphia related to their early occupational aspirations. By the end of the fall term, Experiential Edge students will be equipped to incorporate professional skills into the traditional Drexel learning environment.
“Experiential Edge will further underscore our core strength and mission, as well as reinforce Drexel’s stature as a national leader in experiential education,” said Provost Brian Blake.
An Experiential Edge participant interested in culinary arts and science, for example, would be matched and mentored by a senior student, and would attend workshops during the first three weeks. The remainder of the fall quarter could be spent in a professional rotation in the food-processing industry or at a Philadelphia restaurant. The student would then begin classes in the winter quarter and complete the first year of courses during the spring and summer quarters.
By the second fall, Experiential Edge students will be fully integrated with the cohort of traditional fall-entry students; the remainder of the curricular opportunities would be identical to those of standard fall quarter matriculates. There will be similar opportunities with community and industry partners for Experiential Edge students pursuing art history, entertainment and arts management and nutrition science.
“Experiential Edge will be attractive for entering freshmen who are eager to learn alongside professionals in the environments that their Drexel faculty and degrees will prepare them for,” said Vice Provost Koren Bedeau.
Experiential Edge students will be eligible for on-campus housing and will be welcomed members of the community in the fall.
For more information on Experiential Edge, email expedge@drexel.edu.