The Experience

A full-time day student (graduating in May 2020 and beyond) starting their first year in the fall or spring semester is required to complete twelve EXPERIENCE credits.

Transfers who come in as second-semester first-year students are required to complete eight EXPERIENCE credits.

Transfers who come in as sophomores are required to complete six EXPERIENCE credits.

Transfers who come in as juniors are not required to complete the experience (but we encourage you to attend events anyway!)

Full-time day students and transfer students starting at Albright in September 2020 and beyond must complete all of their Experience credits BEFORE they can take their general education SYNTHESIS course.

For IN-PERSON indoor and outdoor events, you must arrive BEFORE the event begins and stay until it ends.  You must have your ALBRIGHT ID scanned by a student monitor when you enter the event and again as you exit the event.  Student Experience monitors will not scan your ID after the event has begun or before the event has officially ended, and you will not receive credit if your Albright ID is not scanned twice.

For VIRTUAL events, you must register for the event with your ALBRIGHT EMAIL, be present for the entire event as indicated on the time stamp generated by Zoom webinar, and complete all polls/questionnaires administered by organizers or hosts during the virtual event and at the end of the virtual event.

You will NOT receive credit for an event when you:

1. Arrive after an event begins and/or leave before it ends
2. Do not have your Albright ID scanned when you enter and leave an IN-PERSON live event (indoor or outdoor)
3. Do not register for a live VIRTUAL event with your Albright email address
4. Do not complete all polls/questionnaires administered by organizers or hosts of VIRTUAL live events.
5. Experience technical difficulties with your computer or mobile device when connecting to Zoom webinar. We cannot provide any tech support. (Please note that if event hosts/organizers experience technical difficulties with Zoom webinar during a VIRTUAL event, they have been instructed to re-schedule the event if possible in order to provide you another opportunity to earn Experience credit.)

You will only receive experience for seeing a show or performance once, even if it is the next year.

Students MAY NOT get Experience Credit for events that they participate in (Domino Players cannot get credit for a performance in which they act, direct, or work, orchestra members cannot get credit for events in which they play, etc.).

Students who obtain the required number of Experience credits will receive a “Q” on their transcript.

Students who do not obtain the required number of Experience credits will not graduate.

Students are able to access a list of their completed Experience Events by logging into the Identity System and expanding the “Experience Events” section.

Students wishing to appeal their attendance at an event for Experience credit MUST DO SO within 30 days of the beginning of the following fall or spring semester.

Students are almost never given exemptions from the experience. In special circumstances, substitute events can be completed.

If for some reason you feel you must complete substitute events, you must make a written request by email to the chair of the General Education Committee (Adam John, ajohn@albright.edu) explaining and justifying your request. The email must also be copied to your advisor or it will not be considered. Then, your letter will be distributed to the General Education Committee and a decision will be made. You will be notified of the decision of the committee as soon as the committee meets during the academic year.

Beginning fall 2023, please complete the Experience Event Appeal Form.

In order to become an Experience event monitor, you must have completed the required number of Experience events. It is a paid position. If interested, you must apply for the position on Handshake.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLING INFORMATION VERY CAREFULLY!!!

Who Can Propose Experience Events?

• Events can be proposed by ALBRIGHT faculty and staff (people directly employed by Albright).

• Students may submit proposals but must:
  1. Work with a faculty or staff sponsor to develop an Experience event.
  2. List their faculty or staff sponsor on the proposal form.
  3. Work with their faculty or staff sponsor to secure an available venue one month prior to the event.

Deadlines: Proposals for events occurring between the 1st and 15th of the month must be submitted to the Experience Committee by the 1st day of the prior month. Proposals for events occurring between the 16th and the 30th (or 31st) of the month must be submitted by the 15th day of the prior month. PLEASE NOTE that late proposals will not be accepted – there are NO EXCEPTIONS.

Criteria for the Acceptance of Your Event

Events that are approved for Experience credit meet the following criteria:

• Events must be IN-PERSON or a VIRTUAL Zoom Webinar.
• Content of the event significantly enriches the academic, intellectual, and cultural life of the college community AND supports the goals of the General Education program.
• Events must be more than informational sessions or seminars – they should involve any of the following: the presentation of the results of research or inquiry of some kind (though not exclusively scholarly); the performance of a scholarly, cultural, or artistic production; or the critical engagement of some facet of the liberal arts. The Committee intends to broadly interpret these categories when appropriate, but it is nevertheless critical that applicants demonstrate that their event supports the Albright Experience mission.
• Is not exclusionary of any campus constituency.
• Lasts a minimum of 60 minutes.

You must provide the following:

• The title and topic of the event
• A detailed description of the event – this is a formal application, so please write the description accordingly – sloppy and haphazard descriptions will be rejected (you may resubmit the proposal for reconsideration within one week of notice of rejection).
• If you are proposing a speaker or performer from off campus, please provide adequate information on the qualifications of that speaker and how those qualifications support the Experience Event mission statement.
• Justification for how the event helps to fulfill the mission of the Experience program by enriching the cultural, intellectual, and/or academic life of the college AND supporting the goals of the General Education program. Poorly or superficially articulated justifications will be rejected (you may resubmit the proposal for reconsideration within one week of notice of rejection).
• The event date and time
• Confirmation email of reserved venue (for in-person INDOOR and OUTDOOR events)
• For VIRTUAL events, you must select the checkbox confirming that you will conduct at least TWO (2) polls/questionnaires during this event (one in the middle and one at the end) with at least 3 items each. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in students not earning Experience credit for the event.
• For VIRTUAL events, a checkbox to confirm that you will require students to register for the event on Zoom webinar with their Albright email address.
• For VIRTUAL events, you must select the checkbox confirming that you understand the consequences of technical difficulties with Zoom webinars at any point during the presentation.
• The contact information for the event sponsor
• An admission fee, if applicable
• A request for funding, if applicable

A note on films and sports as experience events.
Films will only be accepted as experience events if the requesting group has received exhibition rights AND has arranged for a speaker to discuss the film.

Sporting events will be accepted as experience events on the condition that there is an accompanying lecture AND that the requesting group has adequately justified the events on the proposal form.

Your submission form must be submitted on or before the deadline. Please use the online proposal submission link for all proposals.

Funding

Funding from Experience CAN be used for:

• honoraria
• hospitality/refreshments
• transportation
• buying rights to show a film

Funding from Experience CANNOT be used for:

• promotion
• prizes
• to raise other funds for an organization
• capital expenses

You MUST include a budget that describes how the funding will be spent in the appropriate space on the proposal. Funding is limited and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Early submission is encouraged if funding is being requested. Student groups should show evidence that they have also requested funding from SAC. PLEASE NOTE: All paperwork for funding (e.g. expense reports or check requests with receipts) must be submitted electronically to Kristen Kohl (kkohl@albright.edu) within 30 days or the funds will be returned to the pool for other funding requests. For more information, please contact Dr. Adam John at ajohn@albright.edu.