Faculty, staff, and supervisors play a critical role in transforming experiential learning opportunities into meaningful, high-impact student experiences. As mentors, project sponsors, and learning partners, you help ensure that Experiential Learning Social Impact Fellows projects are not only educational, but also purposeful, structured, and aligned with Penn State’s broader mission and strategic priorities. By sponsoring an Impact Fellows project, you are helping students connect theory to practice, classroom learning to real-world application, and personal growth to professional identity development.
Your guidance, support, and sponsorship provide the foundation for:
- Deep student learning
- Skill development and career readiness
- Community and institutional impact
- Project relevance and sustainability
Responsibilities as a Sponsor or Supervisor
As a faculty, staff, or supervisor partner, you play a vital role in shaping the quality and impact of the student experience by:
- Co-designing meaningful projects that offer authentic learning, responsibility, and impact
- Providing mentorship and guidance throughout the student’s project experience
- Ensuring academic, professional, and ethical integrity in project design and execution
- Supporting reflective learning, helping students translate experience into skill development
- Aligning projects with institutional priorities and community needs