Current Award Recipient

Experience Recognition Program, Florida State University

Florida State University’s (FSU) Experience Recognition Program (ERP) was established more than 50 years ago as a cooperative education course. Currently ERP recognizes students who engage in work-integrated learning for at least 45 hours during an academic semester to satisfy our institution’s CoreFSU General Education “Formative Experience” graduation requirement. The Experience Recognition Program is a virtual, asynchronous semester-long program centered around SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely) Learning Objectives and reflective assignments. The reflections help interns hone their NACE career readiness competencies. There are two options of enrollment into ERP for students: 

• Complete a zero-credit SDS 3802 Experiential Learning course; 

• Complete the Experience Recognition Program- Certificate of Completion (non-credit, co-curricular) 

ERP is currently the only approved low-cost (zero-credit, noncredit hour course) or no-cost option (co-curricular certificate) available for undergraduate students to satisfy the CoreFSU General Education Formative Experience graduation requirement.  

When the governor and Florida legislature called for a renewed focus on helping students prepare for and secure jobs post-graduation, in June 2019, FSU became the largest, most diverse public university to institute an experiential learning graduation requirement.  As a result, FSU administrators identified the Career Center’s ERP as a centralized, interdisciplinary work-integrated learning program that would enhance institutional capacity to foster student engagement in work-integrated learning.  

The program currently reaches an average of 250 student participants a semester. Since 2014, 6,754 students have completed ERP.