Faculty & Staff

Community Service Learning (CSL) is an experiential learning approach which links community-based experience with course content. It involves a range of activities intended to benefit the student and the community partner while maintaining a focus on academic learning. 

Students participating in CSL complete graded assignments that encourage reflection and critical thinking, helping them connect classroom learning with their experiences in the community. 

Benefits of integrating CSL into your course
Incorporating CSL into your course structure can offer a variety of benefits for a dynamic and impactful learning environment:

• Integrated theory and practice
• Enhance accessibility and inclusive learning
• Support student retention and completion
• Foster meaningful community connections

CSL supports for faculty
If you are interested in incorporating CSL into your course, the Community Service Learning Placement Coordinator can provide support with everything, including but not limited to the following: 

As a collaboration between the Department of Career & Experiential Learning and the Fred Smithers Centre for Student Accessibility, the Student Employment Initiative (SEI) is an employment and experiential program designed to assist SMU students experiencing disability in securing employment on and off campus.

Through this program, employers are offered a 50% wage subsidy, making it easier to hire talented, diverse candidates while fostering a supportive and inclusive work environment. By participating in SEI, employers not only gain access to a pool of motivated and skilled students but also contribute to creating a workplace that values equity, diversity, and inclusion.

To learn more, contact sei@smu.ca. 

Saint Mary’s Co-Curricular Recognition (CCR) Program recognizes and documents students learning experiences outside the classroom that aren’t captured on their academic transcript. All verified CCR experiences are officially recorded on the Student Experience Record, a comprehensive, university-verified document that summarizes a student’s involvement in curricular and co-curricular experiential learning.

CCR Categories include:

• Volunteer: Includes both on-campus and off-campus volunteer experiences.
• Professional & Personal Development: Workshops, training sessions, or other skill-building opportunities.
• Student Societies: Involvement in SMUSA-ratified student societies.
• Sports & Recreation: Participation in varsity teams, intramurals, or sport clubs.
• Leadership: Paid roles where students provide direction or take responsibility for managing a task or initiative (TA, Lab Demonstrator, etc.).
• Awards & Certificates: Recognition through awards or certifications.

CCR Validation

The experience leader or supervisor's role as the Validator is to confirm that the student has successfully completed their Co-Curricular Recognition (CCR) experience. This includes verifying that the hours logged are accurate, the selected competencies are appropriate, and that the student has submitted their reflection. While you will not be able to view the reflection content, you will be notified whether or not it has been completed.

Micro Experiential Learning (MEL) is an academic experiential learning program where students participate in mini-projects or experiences in partnership with an industry, community, or internal partners. Students can gain entrance to the Micro EL program in a variety of ways, including bonus points through their course participation, or through course-based assignments. Experiences are recorded on the Student Experience Record.

MEL Criteria:

• Micro-Experiences typically range from 1.5 hours to a maximum of 10 hours.
• Students must complete a reflection component related to their Micro-Experience.
• Micro-Experiences can come in the form of both in-person/physical and virtual/digital experiences.
• Students select a minimum of three competencies from the Competency Framework.

Examples of experiences included:

• Hackathon Participant.
• Conference Participant.
• Workshop Participant.
• Event Participant.
• Speaker Series Participant.
• Competition Participant.
• Experiential Learning Community Engagement.

Benefits of Micro Experiential Learning

• Hands on learning and the ability to apply course materials to a real-world situation.
• Explore and test out career and educational interests.
• Gain competencies, industry knowledge, and contacts.
• Validates informal learning.
• Completed experiences are documented on a student’s Experience Record, and can be showcased when applying for jobs, scholarships, and further education applications.

To learn more about integrating Micro Experiential Learning in your course, please contact career360@smu.ca.

Career360°

Career360° is Saint Mary's University's career and experiential learning platform that provides students and recent alumni with access to job and volunteer opportunities, career and experiential learning services, workshops, and events.

Faculty and Staff can create a Career360° account to post job openings, internship opportunities, workshops, events and more.

Register for a Career360° Faculty & Staff account. For more information email career360@smu.ca.