Inside AAD
Search Inside AAD ⌘K

Inside AAD

Search Inside AAD

Type to search resources.

    View all search results

    Inside AAD menu
    Menu
    Home

    Faculty & Staff

    Experiential Learning

    Guidance for faculty and staff planning experiential learning, advising students, and routing sponsored or for-credit work.

    Content owner: Ariana Wyatt, Associate Dean for Outreach and Engagement, and Kathryn Johnson, Experiential Learning Coordinator

    Review expectation: Ariana and Kathryn’s team must confirm AAD-specific bridge requirements, advising paths, sponsored-studio guidance, and program details before those can be published here; every linked university service remains owned by the office named on its card.

    Change path: Send corrections, missing links, or owner updates through Request a website change.

    Start Here: Faculty & Staff

    Start here when you are advising a student, planning experiential or community-engaged learning, considering sponsored work, or identifying the college and university owners who must review an activity.

    Identify whether the work is student advising, a for-credit experience, a sponsored studio, community engagement, research, or a faculty-led global program.

    Use the university destination that owns the activity, then contact Ariana Wyatt or Kathryn Johnson when the work needs AAD coordination or may commit college resources.

    Do not promise a course, agreement, funding source, or approval path until its owner confirms the current requirements.

    Student Route

    Students should use the Bridge Experience Program Canvas course link provided by your program when one has been assigned. If you do not have that course link, start with the Academy for Experiential Learning or Career and Professional Development rather than guessing a Canvas destination.

    Start here Academy for Experiential Learning

    Use the university experiential-learning site to understand available programs and find the current starting point for student questions.

     Alternate path Career and Professional Development

    Use the university career-experience route for internships, co-ops, on-campus experiences, and related student support.

    Bridge Experience Program

    The Bridge Experience Program is Virginia Tech’s plan for undergraduate students to learn experientially through place-based opportunities — commonly an internship, undergraduate research, or another site-based experience connected to their degree. Check the current department list before advising a student.

    Start here Bridge Experience Program overview

    Read how bridge experiences connect academic knowledge with professional experience aligned to a student’s career goals, typically in the final academic years.

     Alternate path Check current bridge departments and programs

    See which departments and majors — including AAD programs — currently participate in the Bridge Experience Program, with examples of qualifying experiences.

     Alternate path Read AAD student bridge stories

    Four AAD students who completed summer bridge experiences share what they learned and offer advice — useful, concrete examples when a student asks what a bridge experience looks like.
    • Kathryn Johnson’s team must confirm AAD’s current bridge program list, reflection and showcase course details, and school-level advising paths before those specifics can be published here.

    Internships & Career Experience

    Direct students to Career and Professional Development for career exploration, finding internships and jobs, improving resumes, and preparing for interviewing.

    Start here Career and Professional Development

    Start here for career exploration, finding internships and jobs, improving resumes, and preparing for interviewing.

     Alternate path Campus internEXP

    A paid, structured on-campus internship program for undergraduate students. Positions are found and applied for through Handshake.

     Alternate path Cooperative Education and Internship Program (CEIP)

    A work-based Cooperative Education and Internship Program for undergraduate students seeking practical, career-related experience.

     Alternate path Student Internship & Co-op Network (SICN)

    A network for undergraduate students actively looking for experience, with professional-development opportunities, employer events, and internship and co-op updates.
    • Handshake

      Search and apply for internships, co-ops, and Campus internEXP positions.

    Study Away & Global Programs

    AAD students study away through two signature college venues — the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center and the Steger Center in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland — and through university study-abroad programs run by the Global Education Office.

    Start here Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center (WAAC)

    Since 1980, the WAAC in Alexandria, Virginia has served as an urban extension of the School of Architecture, with undergraduate and graduate programs in the capital region.

     Alternate path Steger Center for International Scholarship

    Virginia Tech’s residential center in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland — a living-learning hub for semester and summer programs, including AAD studios and coursework in Europe.

     Alternate path Explore study abroad at Virginia Tech

    The Global Education Office helps about 1,200 students study abroad each year and is the university source for programs, advising, and exchange partnerships.

     Alternate path Plan global travel or a faculty-led program

    For faculty planning a program abroad, global travel policy, Fulbright activity, and study-abroad guidance, go to the Inside AAD Global Education section.

    Undergraduate Research & Service Learning

    Undergraduate research and community-engaged service learning both count among the experiences that can satisfy a bridge requirement. The Office of Undergraduate Research and VT Engage are the university owners for these paths.

    Start here Office of Undergraduate Research

    Promotes, enhances, and expands undergraduate research opportunities at Virginia Tech, including a research-opportunity database, getting-started guidance, and summer programs.

     Alternate path VT Engage: leadership and service learning

    Virginia Tech’s center for leadership, service learning, civic engagement, and community-based experiences, with support for both students and faculty designing engaged courses.

    Experiential Learning Resources: Connecting Coursework to Career Readiness

    Use these owner-verified university and statewide resources when helping students connect coursework, internships, and career readiness.

    Start here CPD Career Readiness Toolkit

    For faculty, staff, and student leaders: ready-to-facilitate career activities and interactive modules that can be embedded in Canvas.

     Alternate path V-TOP Resources for Career Champions

    Canvas-delivered internship-readiness modules for students preparing for or participating in internships, with supporting resources for faculty, staff, and career champions.

    Forms and documents

    Choose the Right Contact

    College-level direction and day-to-day coordination have different owners. Email the person who matches the question instead of routing everything through one inbox.

    Start here College-level direction and commitments

    Email Ariana Wyatt, Associate Dean for Outreach and Engagement, when experiential-learning work needs college-level direction, spans schools, or may commit AAD resources.

     Alternate path Program coordination and bridge questions

    Email Kathryn Johnson, Experiential Learning Coordinator, for bridge experience coordination, program questions, and day-to-day experiential-learning support in AAD.