Educator spotlight: Zihan Cai, Experiential Learning and Internship Industry Liaison Officer, McGill University.

At Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University, experiential learning will soon be a graduation requirement. We recently spoke with Zihan Cai, Experiential Learning and Internship Industry Liaison Officer, to understand how McGill is integrating real-world projects into its classes and what student outcomes they are seeing. 

What role does experiential learning play at McGill?

There’s been a big push for experiential learning from the Dean of the Management Program. We are adding an experiential learning degree requirement in Fall 2024. So, by the time the next cohort of incoming students graduate, they will have to take an approved course from our experiential learning database to graduate. 

What do you do as an Experiential Learning and Internship Industry Liaison Officer?

I network with different kinds of companies and organizations to see if they want to do experiential learning and class projects with students. I work with a variety of courses, experiences and companies. Riipen’s been great for helping me find start-ups and non-profit organizations eager to work with our students. 

What student outcomes have you seen from Riipen real-world projects?

The outcomes have been great! One MBA class worked with a construction association from a smaller municipality. They developed a marketing strategy to expand into larger cities as well as a go-to-market plan. 

And for an undergraduate course on social innovation and entrepreneurship, Riipen connected us with a local, not-for-profit. The students really enjoyed doing work in the community and the organization’s founders actually came to watch their final presentations.

What do students say about the experience?

Students have told me that experiential learning has helped them with real life skills. They aren’t just sitting in a lecture hall, they’re doing the consulting or doing the interviewing. They are developing the skills that they wanted to get out of it.

What would you tell a colleague about Riipen?

Riipen has been a lifesaver for me. It connects me with organizations that are looking for the same thing that I am, to match students with real-world projects, so I don’t feel like I am bothering them. 

I would definitely recommend Riipen. It’s a good way to build a network of different types of organizations, especially smaller, startup organizations or not-for-profits that need consulting help but don’t have a big budget. 

Book a chat with our team to discover how Riipen can help you integrate experiential learning projects into your classrooms today.

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