Enhance the Student Experience and Career Readiness with Course and Major Maps
Align Academic Requirements with Co-Curricular Opportunities
Students who engage in high-impact, experiential learning beyond the classroom typically go on to have fulfilling careers after university, regardless of what they study.
However, students may be unaware of the different experiential learning opportunities available at your institution—or how they can incorporate these co-curricular and career development activities into their degree to achieve their post-graduation goals.
Progressive institutions have developed major maps in the US, or course maps internationally, that align academic requirements with co-curricular and experiential learning opportunities. They present a holistic view of a student’s learning journey across the years of study.
Watch the video below to learn more about these unique experiential maps, and then read on to download resources and tools for bringing this idea to life on your campus.
-
North American Model
-
UK Model
North American Model
As noted above, major maps help students explore academic opportunities, reflect on the career-relevant skills they are gaining, get hands-on experience in preparation for jobs and graduate programs, and see career paths available to each program of study. Ultimately, students can use experiential major maps to make a year-by-year plan for academic and co-curricular learning based on their unique academic and career interests.
EAB has developed a collection of resources and tools to support the creation and deployment of experiential major maps.
-
Download the toolkit
Download the full toolkit for step-by-step implementation guidance, or use the interactive timeline below. Select the appropriate phase by clicking on the desired tab. If you’re still exploring, check out sample maps in the compendium at the bottom of the page.
Phase I
Plan and Prepare
In this first phase, the tools below will aid your institution in:
- Making initial planning decisions and crafting templates
- Identifying core roles and responsibilities
- Announcing the initiative to faculty and staff
- Posting a student assistant role with a sample job description
Need an overview of the full implementation process? Access a copy of EAB’s recommended timeline, from project kick-off to completion.
Tool 1: Experiential Major Map Workplan Template
This first tool is an interactive worksheet to document tasks, owners, time frames, and status updates relevant to initial plans, departmental feedback, major map design, and a distribution plan. Download the workplan template to fill out the details relevant to your institution.
Tool 2: Experiental Major Map Roles and Responsibilities
The second tool details the core roles and responsibilities in the major map development process. Download the interactive worksheet to assign names of campus owners or contacts and review suggested responsibilities of each owner.
Tool 3: Provost Communication Template
It is vital that you receive approvals, and support, from faculty and staff. This email template can serve as the initial announcement email to introduce the major map initiative and identify project leaders. Download the template below or start an email draft by clicking here.
Tool 4: Sample Position Description for Student Assistant
The student worker position supports and augments the creation and implementation of experiential major maps. This sample position description for a major maps student assistant can be used to recruit on campus. Download the sample description and modify to suit your needs.
Phase II
Design and Build
In this second phase, the tools below will aid your institution in:
- Creating a major map template
- Determining what information to include in maps for academic and non-academic units
- Establishing questions for student focus groups
- Soliciting feedback from partner organizations
Tool 5: Experiential Major Map Template
Use this template to draft and collect information for experiential major maps. Delete instructions and example text in the downloadable version and replace them with institution-specific information. Many implementation teams choose to send the filled template to a program chair or other departmental key contact for review.
Information to Include in the Major Map Template
- Student experience categories: Identify 3-4 pillars of the student experience to use as categories for major map activities. Each category should be distinct, action oriented, and aligned with institutional goals (e.g., connect with the community, broaden your perspective, think globally, explore leadership opportunities).
- First year: Outline first-year course requirements for students and early opportunities to explore majors and careers. Encourage students to interact with multiple offices and services at an institution (e.g., meet with an advisor, attend the student organization fair, work with a writing tutor).
- Middle years: Highlight academic milestones in the second and third years. Encourage students to pursue leadership roles and resume-building activities (e.g., declare a major, consider a term of study abroad, complete an internship or co-op, apply for a scholarship, serve on the board of a student group).
- Fourth year: List activities that help students in their fourth or final year complete a degree on time and prepare for a first job or graduate program (e.g., apply for graduation, take qualifying exams for graduate school, visit career services for a resume review and practice interview).
- Academic success and career development checklists: Alongside the year-by-year plan, note steps that student can complete at any time to prepare for academic and career success.
Tool 6: Experiential Major Map Inclusion Guidelines
Start developing guided questions and information to include in the major maps. Share this guide with academic and non-academic unit representatives to help them review drafted experiential major maps and decide on information to include.
Learn considerations for what information to include for:
- Academic Content
- Co-Curricular Content
- Career Development Content
- Global Experience Content
Tool 7: Student Focus Group Discussion Guide
Student focus groups provide feedback on the look and feel of maps from a student perspective. Include a diverse group of students in focus groups to ensure maps resonate with a wide variety of students.
In this tool, you will discover numerous questions designed to elicit actionable feedback and inquiries that focus on specific angles to collect robust input. Download the full list of questions with the discussion guide to start collecting student feedback.
Tool 8: Employer Feedback Guide
Organizations that employ students and alumni can be a valuable source of feedback on experiential major map content. Use these questions, and share draft maps from relevant academic fields, to guide meetings with employers. Review the questions below or download the feedback guide.
Majors and careers
- What are some examples of entry level job titles that your company might look to fill with recent college graduates?
- What are the most common college majors of recent grads who work at your organization?
- How important is a student’s major when you decide to hire them?
- Are hiring managers or recruiters given any guidance on which college majors or minors to look for on resumes?
- Are there any majors you’d like to hire from, but you don’t think graduates know to apply with your organization?
- Does your company only hire entry level employees with master’s or other graduate degrees?
Hands-on experience
- When hiring managers and recruiters review resumes, how many years of internship or volunteer experience during college are you looking for?
- Should students start interning/volunteering their first year in college? If so, is this a need to have or nice to have qualification?
- Are there particular types of job experience that candidates must have in order to qualify for an entry level position? What advice would you give to students on when and how to find those types of experience?
- We encourage students to take courses that have project based or applied components, where they work in teams with a local business or nonprofit to help solve a problem. Should graduates list this type of experience on their resume when they apply for a job with your organization?
- What types of extracurricular experiences are recruiters or hiring managers looking for on resumes? Should students focus on trying to take on a leadership role?
Skills and knowledge
- What skills do graduates need to be successful in entry level positions at your organization?
- What are the skills that entry level employees are most often missing?
- How should they be developing these skills before they apply for a job? Or, should applicants know that they can get on the job training in these areas?
- What types of skills, knowledge, or experiences would make an entry level candidate really stand out?
- Are there types of classes students should be taking in college if they want to be prepared for a job with your organization?
- Are there additional certifications or training that entry level employees need to have? When should students start to think about getting these qualifications?
- Many of our students come from nontraditional backgrounds they may be military veterans or have started college after age 24. What kinds of nontraditional life experiences are you looking for that might demonstrate the same skills as a college internship?
Opportunities with this organization
- Do you host student internships? What year in college is the best time to intern?
- How do most students who intern at your organization first hear about you?
- Are there qualifications students need for these internships?
- Do you have opportunities for job shadow, informational interviews, or other networking that students should know about as they are exploring majors and careers?
- When and how should they get in contact with you regarding these opportunities?
Feedback on specific maps
- Is this map in line with the qualifications someone would need to get an entry level job with your organization after graduation?
- Is there anything you would add or remove?
- Are there any items you would move earlier or later?
Phase III
Implement and Evaluate
In this third phase, the tools below will aid your institution in:
- Finalizing communications
- Distributing major maps
- Evaluating and updating maps on an annual basis
Tool 9: Provost Communication Template (Rollout)
Use this email template to communicate to faculty and staff the experiential major map completion and rollout. You can open up a drafted email by clicking here or you can download the template below.
Tool 10: Annual Review Form
After implementing major maps on your campus, it is important to assess their effectiveness each year. Use this form, available for download below, to ask for any experiential major map content that should be added, removed, or revised.
UK Model
As noted above, course maps help students explore academic opportunities, reflect on the career-relevant skills they are gaining, get hands-on experience in preparation for jobs and postgraduate programmes, and see career paths available to each programme of study. Ultimately, students can use experiential course maps to make a year-by-year plan for academic and co-curricular learning based on their unique academic and career interests.
EAB has developed a collection of resources and tools to support the creation and deployment of experiential course maps.
-
Download the toolkit
Download the full toolkit for step-by-step implementation guidance, or use the interactive timeline below. Select the appropriate phase by clicking on the desired tab. If you’re still exploring, check out sample maps in the compendium at the bottom of the page.
Phase I
Plan and Prepare
In this first phase, the tools below will aid your institution in:
- Making initial planning decisions and crafting templates
- Identifying core roles and responsibilities
- Announcing the initiative to academic and professional services staff
- Posting a student assistant role with a sample job description
Need an overview of the full implementation process? Access a copy of EAB’s recommended timeline, from project kick-off to completion.
Tool 1: Experiential Course Map Workplan Template
This first tool is an interactive worksheet to document tasks, owners, time frames, and status updates relevant to initial plans, departmental feedback, course map design, and a distribution plan. Download the workplan template to fill out the details relevant to your institution.
Tool 2: Experiental Course Map Roles and Responsibilities
The second tool details the core roles and responsibilities in the course map development process. Download the interactive worksheet to assign names of campus owners or contacts and review suggested responsibilities of each owner.
Tool 3: Senior Sponsor Communication Template
It is vital that you receive approvals, and support, from academic and professional services staff. This email template can serve as the initial announcement email to introduce the course map initiative and identify project leaders. Download the template below or start an email draft by clicking here.
Tool 4: Sample Position Description for Student Assistant
The student worker position supports and augments the creation and implementation of experiential course maps. This sample position description for a course maps student assistant can be used to recruit on campus. Download the sample description and modify to suit your needs.
Phase II
Design and Build
In this second phase, the tools below will aid your institution in:
- Creating a course map template
- Determining what information to include in maps for academic and non-academic units
- Establishing questions for student focus groups
- Soliciting feedback from partner organisations
Tool 5: Experiential Course Map Template
Use this template to draft and collect information for experiential course maps. Delete instructions and example text in the downloadable version and replace them with institution-specific information. Many implementation teams choose to send the filled template to a programme chair or other departmental key contact for review.
Information to Include in the Course Map Template
- Student experience categories: Identify 3-4 pillars of the student experience to use as categories for course map activities. Each category should be distinct, action oriented, and aligned with institutional goals (e.g., connect with the community, broaden your perspective, think globally, explore leadership opportunities).
- First year: Outline first-year module requirements for students and early opportunities to explore careers. Encourage students to interact with multiple offices and services at an institution (e.g., meet with a pastoral tutor, attend the student organisation fair, work with a writing tutor).
- Middle year(s): Highlight academic milestones in the second year. Encourage students to pursue leadership roles and resume-building activities (e.g., consider a study abroad opportunity, complete an internship, apply for a fellowship, serve on the board of a student organisation).
- Final year: List activities that help students in their final year complete a degree on time and prepare for a first job or postgraduate study (e.g., take qualifying exams for a graduate programme, visit career services for a resume review and interview practice, connect with alumni in your field of interest).
- Academic success and career development checklists: Alongside the year-by-year plan, note steps that student can complete at any time to prepare for academic and career success.
Tool 6: Experiential Course Map Inclusion Guidelines
Start developing guided questions and information to include in the course maps. Share this guide with academic and non-academic unit representatives to help them review drafted experiential course maps and decide on information to include.
Learn considerations for what information to include for:
- Academic Content
- Co-Curricular Content
- Career Development Content
- Global Experience Content
Tool 7: Student Focus Group Discussion Guide
Student focus groups provide feedback on the look and feel of maps from a student perspective. Include a diverse group of students in focus groups to ensure maps resonate with a wide variety of students.
In this tool, you will discover numerous questions designed to elicit actionable feedback and inquiries that focus on specific angles to collect robust input. Download the full list of questions with the discussion guide to start collecting student feedback.
Tool 8: Employer Feedback Guide
Organisations that employ students and alumni can be a valuable source of feedback on experiential course map content. Use these questions, and share draft maps from relevant academic fields, to guide meetings with employers. Review the questions below or download the feedback guide.
Programmes and careers
- What are some examples of entry level job titles that your company might look to fill with recent university graduates?
- What are the most common academic programmes of recent grads who work at your organisation?
- How important is a student’s academic programme when you decide to hire them?
- Are hiring managers or recruiters given any guidance on which university programmes to look for on resumes?
- Are there any programmes you’d like to hire from, but you don’t think graduates know to apply with your organisation?
- Does your company only hire entry level employees with postgraduate qualifications?
Hands-on experience
- When hiring managers and recruiters review resumes, how many years of internship or volunteer experience during university are you looking for?
- Should students start interning/volunteering their first year in university? If so, is this a need-to-have or nice-to-have qualification?
- Are there particular types of job experience that candidates must have in order to qualify for an entry level position? What advice would you give to students on when and how to find those types of experience?
- We encourage students to take modules that have project-based or applied components, where they work in teams with a local business or nonprofit to help solve a problem. Should graduates list this type of experience on their resume when they apply for a job with your organisation?
- What types of extracurricular experiences are recruiters or hiring managers looking for on resumes? Should students focus on trying to take on a leadership role?
Skills and knowledge
- What skills do graduates need to be successful in entry level positions at your organisation?
- What are the skills that entry level employees are most often missing?
- How should they be developing these skills before they apply for a job? Or, should applicants know that they can get on the job training in these areas?
- What types of skills, knowledge, or experiences would make an entry-level candidate really stand out?
- Are there types of classes students should be taking in university if they want to be prepared for a job with your organisation?
- Are there additional certifications or training that entry-level employees need to have? When should students start to think about getting these qualifications?
- Many of our students come from nontraditional backgrounds-they may be mature learners or the first in their family to attend university. What kinds of nontraditional life experiences are you looking for that might demonstrate the same skills as an internship?
Opportunities with this organisation
- Do you host student internships? What year in university is the best time to intern?
- How do most students who intern at your organisation first hear about you?
- Are there qualifications students need for these internships?
- Do you have opportunities for job shadow, informational interviews, or other networking that students should know about as they are exploring careers?
- When and how should they get in contact with you regarding these opportunities?
Feedback on specific maps
- Is this map in line with the qualifications someone would need to get an entry-level job with your organisation after graduation?
- Is there anything you would add or remove?
- Are there any items you would move earlier or later?
Phase III
Implement and Evaluate
In this third phase, the tools below will aid your institution in:
- Finalising communications
- Distributing course maps
- Evaluating and updating maps on an annual basis
Tool 9: Senior Sponsor Communication Template (Rollout)
Use this email template to communicate to academic and professional services staff the experiential course map completion and rollout. You can open up a drafted email by clicking here or you can download the template below.
Tool 10: Annual Review Form
After implementing course maps on your campus, it is important to assess their effectiveness each year. Use this form, available for download below, to ask for any experiential course map content that should be added, removed, or revised.
Review a Compendium of Examples
Compendium of Experiental Major and Course Maps
- Fisk University
- North Dakota State University
- Southwest Baptist University
- St. Ambrose University
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of Texas, El Paso
- University of Toronto, Mississauga
- University of Utah
- University of Windsor
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- West Virginia University
- Wilfrid Laurier University
What’s Next?
Once you have created your own maps, remember that you can get maximum impact from them by distributing them widely: among your marketing and recruitment teams, academic departments, careers office, and advising teams. Institutions who have created experiential maps in the past have found that doing so can:
- Help prospective students imagine what studying a specific subject could look like at your university, and assure them that there’s a plan for everyone regardless of what they study
- Give current students an opportunity to explore academic tracks, reflect on the career-relevant skills they are gaining, and plan for future experiences to partake in
- Provide academic and career counsellors with a blueprint in their interactions with current students, to see if they are on track and help them design a path for success
And of course, you can send your completed maps to us as well. Email our research team with a copy of your maps to be included in the above compendium as inspiration for other universities going through the implementation process.
Want to learn how Southwest Baptist University built their experiential maps? Read their five major takeaways and lessons learned.
This resource requires EAB partnership access to view.
Access the tool
Learn how you can get access to this resource as well as hands-on support from our experts through Strategic Advisory Services.
Learn More