Initial Publication Date: April 13, 2015

Go Beyond the Curriculum

Learning doesn't just take place in the classroom. Informal, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities can contribute substantially to program-level learning outcomes. These programmatic elements can be very important to student success. For example, program aspects that stimulate a sense of community outside the classroom are often a critical factor in minority students persisting in science major. If one of your program goals is to increase the diversity of your graduates, then these co-curricular concerns will be important to include on your matrix.

Some other areas that might be emphasized in your department to support programmatic learning goals include:

Develop and support Internship Programs
Encourage or require Student Research Experiences
Enable students to participate in Field Experiences early and often
Provide opportunities for students to engage international studies

Carleton College - Geological Studies in Italy
UC Davis - Earth and Planetary Sciences, Education Abroad
Internationalization: Implications for Your Students Within and Beyond the Curriculum (Microsoft Word 24kB Jan19 07)
Laurie Koloski, Director of the Reves Center for International Studies at the College of William and Mary

Develop "communities of scholars"; support a student Earth Science Association in your department; work with Residence Life on your campus to establish a dorm wing dedicated to Earth (or natural/physical) science majors; support a robust departmental field trip program
Departmental Speakers Series; expose students to the breadth of exciting new scholarship being done by local faculty and students and by national experts; (use this as a method to reinforce and validate the activities and skills emphasized in your courses)
Start a journal club, with informal reading from the current popular press
Engage in a department-wide Service Learning project

References and Additional Readings

General

InTeGrate: Support the Whole Student - Supporting all kinds of students requires an "ecosystem" of program elements so that each student can find his or her niche.
Lessons from the Mouse ( This site may be offline. ) - This book, by longtime Disney executive Dennis Snow, offers practical advice for organizational effectiveness.

On mentoring

Tomorrow's Professor #97: Graduate Student Mentoring - It's not the Same as Advising
This article emphasizes the importance of having a mentor (if not more than one) in addition to advising. It describes a program at Oklahoma State University that has good ideas for those interested in mentoring.
Tomorrow's Professor #104: Mentoring Postdoctoral Students
This is an excerpt from a series of guides by the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) (more info) . The series includes guides on responsible conduct of research, careers in science and engineering, and mentoring.