Guide for Advising Students about Engaged Learning

Download Faculty Advising Guide (PDF)

Engaged Learning Guide for Faculty and Staff

All undergraduate students must earn Engaged Learning points without exception. There are two parts to the requirement:

The six categories of Engaged Learning are:

• Arts, Media and Creativity (AMC / ELP 600) 
• Internship, Co-op or Fieldwork (ICF / ELP 500)
• Civic and Community Engagement (CCE / ELP 400)
• Leadership and Mentoring (LM / ELP 100)
• Guided Research or Scholarship (GRS / ELP 300)
• Study Abroad/Cultural Exploration (SACE/ELP 200)

NOTE: The ELP number following each category abbreviation is the code used in DegreeWorks when looking at the students ELP progress section and when selecting a linked course. For example, a 491 course will indicate ELP5 or ELP 500.

For all students, points may be divided among the categories in any arrangement. Students with a six (6) point requirement may divide their earned points 3 and 3, or 4 and 2, or 1 and 5, or 1 point in 3 different categories and 3 in another category. As long as the student earns a total of 6 points in two or more categories they will meet the requirement.

In all cases, students have a minimum point requirement to meet but there is no maximum number of points they may earn. The more they earn, the more robust, revealing and interesting their EL transcript will be.

How do students earn Engaged Learning Points?

There are four ways students may earn Engaged Learning points:

1. Complete an approved Engaged Learning Course
   • Course credits equate to EL points, with a maximum of three (3) EL points awarded for any one course.
   • Courses completed at other institutions cannot be used to earn points. Points are awarded for passed courses only. At the end of each semester after grades are submitted and posted, Engaged Learning points will be added to DegreeWorks and on the Engaged Learning transcript. This process make take up to two weeks after the end of the semester.
2. Accrue hours in an approved Co-curricular Engaged Learning Experience
   • Experience participation hours may be performed at any time, during any semester, while a student is active at Rider. Experience hours performed while not an active student will not earn points. 20 hours is the minimum number needed to earn one EL point, see the scale below. Hours may be accumulated across semesters or academic years until they total 20 or more. Students must complete an Engaged Learning Experience Form and post a reflection on Canvas to have the points reviewed and approved by a designated approver. The Engaged Learning Coordinator periodically sends the Registrar a report of points earned throughout each semester. Points for experiences are awarded based upon the hours a student has invested, as follows:
     • 20 – 49 hours = 1 point | 50 – 99 hours = 2 points | 100+ hours = 3 points
   • While students may earn one point after completing a minimum of 20 hours in an experience, a second point will not be earned for the same experience in the same semester until the student’s total hours reach 50; then again if they reach 100.
3. Division I Athletic Team Membership Earns Engaged Learning Points
   • Freshman student athletes do not earn any points automatically. Sophomore, junior and senior student athletes automatically receive one (1) point in the category LM: Leadership and Mentoring each semester they are listed on the official NCAA roster submitted to the Registrar. Athletes do not need to do anything else in order to earn that point each semester; however, unless they are a transfer student, student athletes must still earn at least one point in any category other than LM to complete the two-category requirement. Visit this webpage for suggestions on how they can earn that second category point.
   • During their Junior year or the fall semester of their Senior year Division 1 athletes must complete the NCAA Athlete Capstone experience. They must complete an Engaged Learning Experience Form and post their reflection on Canvas. The reflection must focus on their experience as a D1 student athlete, leader, mentor, and teammate and respond to the four EL questions posted on Canvas. The Athletic Coordinator will review their reflection. This is a mandatory submission for the D1 Athlete’s Engaged Learning graduation requirement and will earn one (1) point in the LM category.
4. Perform Community Service
   • Students may spend time volunteering with one or more organizations, keeping track of the dates and hours they worked, until they reach 20 or more hours of service. Students may volunteer with any organizations, either on or off campus, as long as they are supervised and the supervisor’s contact information is provided in their Canvas reflection form. They must submit an Engaged Learning Experience Form and post their reflection on Canvas in order to earn points. Students must be an active Rider student throughout the dates they perform the service.
   • Note: Service Learning trips are not submitted as community service but are submitted as an experience as described in 2. above. Students must complete an Engaged Learning Experience Form and post their reflection on Canvas to earn points for a service learning trip.

All First Year Students Should Complete the New Student Engagement Experience

Created for freshmen and first-year transfer students to complete during their first full year at Rider, the NSEE provides an easy way for new students to earn one point while becoming familiar with the variety of opportunities that Rider has to offer. No matter which semester is their first (Fall, Spring, or Summer) new students have one full year to earn this experience point. To earn the NSEE point students must attend six campus events that fit into at least three of the EL themes listed below, with a maximum of two events in any one theme:

• Sporting Event/Intramurals
• Art Performance
• Campus Tradition Event
• Health, Wellness & Spirituality Event
• Diversity Event
• Lecture/Workshop/Teach-In/Shared Read Event

All campus events may be used to earn this point, however, the events attended must take place during the student’s first year. A downloadable Tracking Sheet will help students organize the events they attend and encourages them to record specific information about each event. Students must complete an Engaged Learning Experience Form and post their reflection on Canvas in order to earn the point.

Advising students on their Engaged Learning Requirement

Beginning with the Fall 2017 semester, Engaged Learning is a graduation requirement for all undergraduate students and is introduced through orientation sessions, First Year Seminar, academic advising, faculty meetings, and by the Deans staff.

Students are responsible to know what their Engaged Learning Graduation requirement is and to track their progress toward meeting it. Academic advisors are responsible for monitoring a student’s progress toward completing their Engaged Learning graduation requirement. DegreeWorks* records the student’s progress towards graduation for all academic requirements and includes a record of earned Engaged Learning points. Upon graduation each student will receive an Engaged Learning Transcript (ELT) that lists their involvement by semester. The ELT accompanies their academic transcript each time they request it be sent to a prospective employer, graduate school, or elsewhere.

*DegreeWorks no longer populates in-progress (IP) courses in the Engaged Learning Requirement box. To see which courses a student has in progress that may earn EL points, scroll down to view courses that are IP and look up the course in the Approved Courses list.

All students should be encouraged to plan early for how they intend to earn points to meet their requirement and discuss that plan with you at advising meetings. Many students will meet the requirement with coursework; others will need to explore experience or service opportunities to earn points. All first-year freshmen/transfer students should be encouraged to complete the New Student Engagement Experience. Not all programs provide a robust list of approved courses and students must often plan other ways to complete their requirement.

As students approach their senior year and graduation, it is important to review the DegreeWorks EL section with them and make them aware of their progress towards meeting the requirement. They must meet the requirement by the end of their final semester or show evidence of points in progress that will be earned before Commencement. If a student needs additional time to earn points, they should discuss it with their academic advisor and their Associate Dean as soon as possible.

The Engaged Learning Guide for Faculty and Staff is available as a PDF so you can download it for easy reference during your advising sessions. It is also available on myRider on the faculty tab under Advising Tools.

Submitting a course or experience for review by the Engaged Learning Committee for approved to earn points

Thank you for your interest in submitting an academic class or co-curricular experience for approval to earn Engaged Learning points. Because we are currently evaluating both academic and non-academic experiences, we are not accepting new submissions at this time.

When we begin accepting new requests a link to a new form will be provided here for your use.

Review and approval of co-curricular Engaged Learning experiences in Canvas

Beginning in Fall 2024, students are required to submit reflections as an assignment in a Canvas “course” for review and approval to earn engaged learning points. The Engaged Learning Committee, along with a select team of faculty and staff reviewers, will be responsible for reviewing/approval of student Co-curricular Experience reflections submitted in Canvas and also will score them for assessment purposes based upon a rubric. If you are not part of the review team you will not be asked to review any student reflections.

To learn more

For information about or assistance with the Engaged Learning Program contact Sandra Ober, Engaged Learning Coordinator, at 609-896-5000, ext. 7055 or [email protected]