Experiential Education Approaches in

Nonprofit Management & Leadership Education: An Examination of Master’s Degree Programs

Associated with the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council

Heather CarpenterPhD Candidate & Research Associate

Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic ResearchUniversity of San Diego

Robert Donmoyer, PhD, ChairMary McDonald, PhDPaula Krist, PhDRoseanne Mirabella, PhD

Problem Statement

Research to date: • General Nonprofit Management Education (NME)

• Experiential education used in a single university or on a single approach

• No comprehensive picture of experiential education approaches

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Purpose of the Study

• Master’s degree programs associated with NACC.

• Types of Approaches

• Development, Administration, and Support

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Methodology

A two-phase mixed method exploratory design:• Phase 1: Qualitative interviews

• 12 faculty members/program administrators of master’s degree programs associated with NACC

• Phase 2: Development, administration, and analysis of survey• All eligible NACC centers - 41

• All nonprofit focused master’s degree programs – 88

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Phase 1: Findings

Expected• Mission and Goals• Institutional Support for Experiential Education• Types of Experiential Education Approaches

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Approach Mentioned # of programs that mentioned approach

Project within a course 12

Capstone (summary project) 6

Internship 5

Presentations from professionals 2

Phase 1: Findings Cont.

Unexpected• Definition of Experiential Education

• Experiential education: “a philosophy and methodology in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills and clarify values” (Association for Experiential Education, 2010, par. 2).

• Formalized vs. Unformalized• Evaluation of Experiential Education

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What’s Next…

• Survey Findings• Analysis and comparisons across programs• Comparisons NACC member centers vs. all

NME programs• Alignment/or non-alignment with the

literature

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Limitations & Significance of the Study

• Schools with 2 or more nonprofit-focused programs

• Different language to explain experiential education

• First study of its kind• Potential significance for program directors at

NME programs• Findings used in future studies

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Questions/Comments

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