Experiential learning

Research, scholarship and creative work are among the most distinguishing features of Concordia University, and are significant factors in allowing us to continuously attract prospective students and faculty.

Over the next five years, we are investing substantial additional resources to fund outstanding graduate students, facilitate the accomplishments of faculty members, and expand the Library’s capacity to support research and creative activity.

In collaboration with departments and Faculties, we will also be revisiting the faculty workload guidelines in order to ensure that the increased cohorts of students will continue to receive excellent supervision.

With new investments in Concordia’s current and emerging areas of strength, and by seeking opportunities to host more high profile research events, we can expect heightened external recognition of our academic accomplishments.

Benefits

Students

$6 million increase in funding graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.
$4.5 million increase to the Library’s acquisitions budget.
Outstanding research environment that promotes leadership and gives support.

Faculty

Increased recognition of innovative and diverse research accomplishments.
$2.4 million for timely, short-term teaching reductions that enable faculty to undertake intensive research and creative work.
$4.5 million increase to the Library’s acquisitions budget.
Outstanding research environment with a greater collaboration between faculty and librarians.

Community

Intensification of research activities involving community partners.

Actions

Objective 4 priority actions

4.1 Increase opportunities for students to gain extramural experience that complements formal classroom learning and fosters professional development.
- 4.1.1 Provide workshops and increased online resources in support of discipline-specific forms of professional preparation, where appropriate.
- 4.1.2 Increase opportunities for students to engage in local, national, and international internships, service learning, research projects, and other forms of applied learning.
- 4.1.3 Increase collaboration and coordination among Concordia’s several entities already active in this area, including the Institute for Co-Operative Education, the JMSB Centre for Career Development, the Institute for Community Development, Career and Placement Services and placement officers in individual academic programs.
4.2 Expand opportunities for students to exercise ethics, citizenship, critical engagement, and global awareness in their courses, research, and co-curricular activities.
- 4.2.1 Develop a proposal for a program to promote and reward academic programs, which encourages community-engaged approaches to building academic skills and knowledge.
- 4.2.2 As part of regular curriculum appraisal processes, encourage and facilitate focused departmental discussions on how ethics, citizenship, critical engagement, and global awareness are and should be integrated into program coursework and related co-curricular activities.
- 4.2.3 Widen the implementation of the International Degree Profile and/or similar initiatives.
- 4.2.4 Encourage students to take advantage of volunteer opportunities, in particular those that mesh with academic program objectives, whether by supporting their inclusion on a co-curricular transcript or diploma supplement, or, where appropriate and properly vetted, through more formal mechanisms such as problem-based service learning for academic credit.
4.3 Explore ways to bolster existing university-community partnerships.
- 4.3.1 Develop an inventory of current university/community partnerships and the resources and policies that facilitate them, in comparison to models of good practice elsewhere.
- 4.3.2 Test the effectiveness of setting aside a small pool of research seed grants to fund community-engaged scholarship.