"Professional Development" is a set of experiences and skills beyond your major that you will need to be successful in your chosen field. Some professional fields; such as doctors and attorneys, are required to have additional hours of "continuing education" beyond their degree to ensure they have the most up-to-date knowledge required to practice medicine or law. Professional Development experiences are intended to begin working on those skills while you are an undergraduate student in order to add to the knowledge base that is your chosen degree.
While you are an undergraduate student, you have the opportunity to begin adding those skills that will make you a more knowledgeable and competitive job or graduate school applicant. Every year, thousands of students will graduate and share your chosen career or graduate school interests. Professional Development shows prospective employers and admissions committees that you are committed not only to performing well but becoming a leader and will set you apart from other applicants. Additionally, through internships, Professional Development can put you into the workplace of someone who is doing what you want to do!
No – whether you are majoring in art, engineering, kinesiology, or business – Professional Development is an important part of adding to the foundation that is going to be your college degree. While professional development experiences may take very different forms, they all have the same goal of adding skills and competencies to your education.
- Interned for members of Congress, shadowed doctors, and worked in non-profit organizations
- Learned computer coding languages not required by their degree
- Obtained professional licenses associated with their degree and field of study
- Attended professional programs related to their career (Summer Law Prep Academy)
Some majors will issue students credit for an internship, but they may also want you to do it in a specific course year like in your junior or senior year. The Honors College can also issue credit for internship experiences, but we do not have these same requirements. In fact, some students do entry-level internships in their first year, which helps them receive internship offers at prominent organizations in their junior or senior year.
Applying credit for Professional Development to satisfy Honors SPICES requires a minimum of 75+ hours of time on task while supervised/mentored, a stated goal to be reached by the end of the project, and submission of an experience approval form. For more information on Honors College Experience requirements, visit the Experience Approval Process page.
Before looking for a Professional Development experience, ask yourself, “Where do I want to be in 10 years?” Your Professional Development experience should be approached as a stepping-stone to where you are and where you want your professional career to take you! Talk to your faculty or professionals in the field; once you have some basic-skills via your courses or lab work, reach out to the Career Center and they can assist you as well. Finally, don’t discount reaching out via email or by phone to a “dream company” or organization!
A successful Professional Development experience should be a path that sets you apart from your peers in your chosen major. Whether through the networking and skills built while interning with a business, government agency, or non-profit; or through developing new skills and expanding your knowledge base, a successful Professional Development experience should be viewed as a way to expand and deepen the knowledge you are gaining through regular coursework.
Opportunities within the Honors College
The Honors College offers students the opportunity to participate in a number of different programs to further expand knowledge, especially in the realms of professional development, leadership development, and public service. Special programs are fully integrated into the Honors College curriculum, making credit transfer simple and ensuring that students are working toward Honors requirements.
