Experiential Education in Action This Spring

Experiential education is all about learning by doing — but that can come in many forms. The spring semester was an action-packed stretch of interactive assignments, projects, competitions and trips that exemplify our unique approach to experiential education. Here’s just a small sample of what JWU students accomplished this spring.  

Students put their skills, ideas and work on display 

One of the most highly anticipated events of the spring semester is the annual REVEAL Senior Design Showcase, where seniors in the design program show off the impressive portfolios they have built throughout their time at JWU. They also create an installation for the gallery in the John J. Bowen Center that highlights their personal brand or their favorite project(s).  

Logan Daubel ’25 shared some of the behind-the-scenes work of creating his gallery wall and the projects he chose to highlight. The installation included a miniature rocket in a nod to his capstone project, Project Pathfinder, which focused on designing a comfortable environment for a long trip to Mars.   

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His wall also featured the project he presented at this year’s JWU Sharkfest, an annual business pitch competition that happens at both the Charlotte and Providence Campuses. His business pitch, Project InfiniChair, is a modular wheelchair system that grows with the user from childhood to adulthood. 

Logan’s pitch earned him an impressive second place win at Sharkfest  – first-place went to Alexie Gerve ’25 who pitched Camp Vitality, an inclusive summer camp experience for children and young adults with physical and emotional disabilities in Connecticut. In Charlotte, the first prize went to John Billinis ’26 for Switchables, a customizable phone case that lets the user swap out the design without having to get a whole new case. 

Students took “classwork” to the next level 

At JWU, classwork often looks quite different from the norm. For example, Professor Steven Riccitelli’s Serial Killers class recently explored some of the world’s most chilling serial killer stories. But, instead of writing a research paper or creating a presentation, students developed a podcast series: Cold-Blooded Chronicles. Each episode tells the story of a different serial killer and the gruesome crimes they committed. The entire class worked together to develop a name and brand for the podcast, conduct research, write episodes and record them in the Center for Media Production’s podcast booth. Check out the first four episodes of Cold-Blooded Chronicles. 

Listen to Cold-Blooded Chronicles

Other classes put a fun twist on traditional lessons, like Professor Howard Slutzky’s Marriage and Family Counseling class at the Charlotte Campus. He brought his class outside to the Academic Courtyard for an interactive role-playing exercise designed to foster conversation and critical thinking about how to approach a wide variety of mock issues that real counselors come across in the field.  

“We role-played that we are a counseling center and each of the students are counselors who are presenting a new case,” Professor Slutzky shared. “We then selected which case to focus on as a ‘consultation session.’ Students got to ask questions to the ‘presenting therapist’ about their case, clinical issues, potential diagnoses, additional questions to ask the family and intervention strategies. It was quite powerful!”   

This active learning approach is something Professor Slutzky has used since he first started teaching, and it’s extremely valuable to his Psychology students who hope to work with patients in clinical settings. “Theory without practice is like someone learning how to run by reading a book — but to get the students out there stretching, warming up and jogging is where the most powerful learning takes place,” Slutzky noted. “I'm trying to provide a level of instruction and experiential learning that will help prepare students in a manner that far exceeds textbook and lecture instruction.”   

Students led efforts on campus and in the community  

Now in its tenth year, the Move Out and Donate campaign is a promotional campaign that is reimagined each year by Marketing & Advertising students as part of their senior portfolio class. The goal of the campaign is to encourage students to donate items they no longer want or need when they move out of residence halls at the end of the year. The effort, which is in partnership with JWU’s Energy Conservation Office, has helped significantly reduce waste during Move-Out day — there were over 5,000 pounds of clothing and household items donated this year! 

The students were tasked with creating visual assets for posters, flyers, social media and display screens around campus as well as crafting an email to send to students. This year’s campaign featured our very own Wildcat Willie with the catchphrase “Don’t be a silly Willie, donate today!” 

Elsewhere on campus, Criminal Justice students spent the semester completing internships with the Campus Safety & Security Office. Director of Emergency Management Rachel Gomes and Safety & Security Lieutenant Harvey DuPerry worked closely with five students to create customized internship experiences based on the number of credits each student needed to complete their degree and what areas of the field they are most interested in. 

“It gives us a whole semester to actually show them what we do and give them some experience in the field,” said DuPerry. The interns took on a wide variety of tasks on both the emergency management side and the security side.  

“I had the opportunity to sit in the Safety & Security dispatch area and learn about their camera systems, how they respond to incidents and calls, and how to communicate with students as well as with each other via radio,” said Aissata Coumbassa ’25. “My favorite project was being the social media coordinator. Not only did I help create content, but I also had the opportunity to get to know many of the officers within the department.” 

Aissata helped start the Safety & Security’s official Instagram account during her internship. The account promotes emergency courses happening on campus, highlights officers and offers fun safety facts for the JWU community. 

Interns also got involved in training sessions on campus and in the Providence community. “I’ve worked on planning different hands-on trainings for student and staff such as ‘Stop the Bleed’ (training for bleeding emergencies), participated in campus fire drills and worked with Campus Safety & Security officers to learn access control, dispatch and camera systems,” said Rebecca Johnson ’25. “My favorite thing that I did was taking a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) class with Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) as a part of my internship. Over the course of five weeks, I learned important life skills and preparedness techniques and was also able to hear from experienced guest speakers from local agencies such as the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA) and the RI State Police K-9 Unit — and my favorite part was getting to meet the K-9 dogs!” 

Getting involved with community organizations and events is an important part of a JWU education, and our Sports, Entertainment, Event — Management (SEEM) students do this often. This spring, they were tapped to help with the inaugural Lil Rhody Laugh Riot, a new four-day comedy festival with over 20 shows around the city. 

Twelve students volunteered throughout the festival, helping with visitor info tables, setting up signs and posters, selling merchandise and assisting with swag contests at different venues. “This volunteer opportunity came from our professors’ connections and thanks to a JWU SEEM alum, Daniel Schwartz ’07, who is the general manager of the Veterans Memorial Auditorium (aka ‘The VETS’),” said student volunteer Miranda Hasani ’25. The VETS was a key venue for the festival, as well as other local spots like the Providence Performing Arts Center and Comedy Connection. 

 “In addition to helping sell merchandise and tickets, I got to see some of the inner workings and planning for the festival,” Miranda shared. “These kinds of opportunities are what really builds industry experience for students like me.” 

Students had adventures outside the classroom (and the country!) 

The Providence Campus’ proximity to both Boston and New York means there’s no shortage of class trips to these major cities. JWU’s Society of Hospitality and Food Service Management (SHFM) student-run chapter teamed up with FLIK Hospitality Group to tour several of the company’s accounts in the Boston area. JWU and SHFM have developed a close relationship with FLIK Hospitality, which gives students who don’t know about the contract foodservice segment an opportunity to see different types of accounts. 

A dozen students toured Tabor Academy, the Babson Executive Conference Center, Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ headquarters and Goodwin & Proctor Law Firm. The whole trip was made possible by an educational classroom grant from the SHFM Foundation, which also includes National Restaurant Association trainings and certifications for students. 

Meanwhile, Accounting and Finance students headed to New York City for the Quinnipiac Global Asset Management Education (G.A.M.E.) Forum, the world’s largest student-run financial conference. Colleges from around the country attend to hear from industry leaders about the latest financial industry insights and practices, as well as compete in the Global Portfolio Competition.  

JWU students presented their Wildcat Investment Value Fund (WIVF) portfolio in the competition, which is a real equity portfolio that is funded through JWU’s endowment. Associate Professor Carlos Diaz is the faculty advisor for the WIVF student team and attends the forum with them each year. In addition to attending G.A.M.E., students also had the chance to explore the city and visit the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and the Empire State Building. 

But no one did more sightseeing than the group of students who spent spring break in Costa Rica. Hospitality students from Providence and Charlotte embarked on the Sustainable Tourism study abroad trip. The week-long trip is designed to explore the exemplary sustainable tourism practices of Costa Rica, one of the world leaders in eco-tourism initiatives and conservation efforts. Throughout the week, students explored multiple cities and had a variety of excursions guided by Karolina Guilcapi ’06, who owns and operates a travel company called Sated Ventures. Her company was recently recognized as one of the top tour operators in South and Central America by Travel + Leisure Magazine. 

One excursion planned by Sated Ventures was a cooking class at a small village’s cooking school owned by a local woman. Our students also visited the village’s elementary school to learn about sustainability and spend time with the children. They were so touched by the experience that they decided to come together and donate enough money to the school to purchase 31 new uniforms for the school children, who could not afford them. 

Other excursions included a trip to the Poás Volcano National Park and white water rafting on the Savegre River. The entire experience emphasized the importance of not only conducting tourism in a sustainable way but also connecting with people and learning about the local communities who bring these destinations to life. 

What new experiences will the next academic year bring? We can’t wait to find out. 

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