How one educator builds experiential learning pathways at Champlain College Online.

Building experiential learning pathways at Champlain College Online (CCO).

Experiential learning has long been central to CCO’s identity, and few people embody that mission more closely than Dr. Don Haggerty, MAT, MBA, Ed.D. As Professor of Strategy, Innovation, and Business Capstone Experiences, and Senior Faculty Lead for Faculty Development and Experiential Learning, he has dedicated his career to ensuring students gain the real-world preparation they need to succeed.

Today, Dr. Haggerty plays a unique role at CCO. As the division’s only full-time faculty member, he teaches more than twenty courses each year while also leading faculty development and advancing experiential pedagogy across programs. His focus is clear: help students ground their learning in practice, reflection, and meaningful industry engagement.

This long-standing advocacy for workplace-aligned learning is rooted in personal experience. Early in his career, after graduating with honours in economics, he found himself without the practical skills to apply his knowledge in the workplace. “I felt that my college had completely unprepared me for my first job doing business and marketing analysis,” he reflects. That moment shaped his lifelong commitment to ensuring that students never experience the same disconnect between education and employment.

A lifelong commitment to work-based learning.

Before joining higher education full-time, Dr. Haggerty spent two decades in business and a decade teaching as an adjunct. Throughout that time, he built courses grounded in hands-on work—using case studies, real client projects, simulations, and workplace resources. This commitment continued when he entered academia full-time and completed a doctorate focused on work-based and reflective learning.

“The past twenty years at Champlain College Online have been a succession of opportunities to do exactly that,” he explains. “My current work with CCO is a continuation of that lifelong effort of which Riipen is now an integral part.”

Today, he supports experiential learning across the division in three main ways:

• Modeling hands-on pedagogy in his own course development
  
  
• Supporting program directors and department chairs in advancing work-based learning
  
  
• Leading faculty development programs grounded in experiential practice
  

“All three parts of my role are aligned in improving the learning and career readiness of our younger students and career development of the adult student population,” he notes.

Why work-based learning matters.

For Dr. Haggerty, the value of experiential learning is both practical and deeply human. Students learn best, he argues, when they take on responsibility for their learning in a setting that mirrors real employment—but with the support of faculty and peers.

“Simply doing a project in isolation isn’t enough,” he explains. “Instead, the learning needs to be done, to the extent feasible, with others either in the workplace or the classroom.”

He uses his own model, Integrated Reflective Practice, which weaves together:

1. Practice: project or internship work guided by employer needs
   
   
2. Integration: connecting practice to prior academic learning
   
   
3. Reflection: deliberate, socially grounded learning that builds both cognitive and social-emotional skills
   

This structure prepares students for the realities of work by replicating collaborative, reflective, and team-based processes of work-based learning commonly found in the workplace.

Introducing Riipen into graduate capstones and beyond.

When Dr. Haggerty partnered with Riipen, he sought a solution that aligned with his pedagogical values and addressed a persistent challenge: matching the right student with the right project at the right time.

“My hope in partnering with Riipen was to find an organization with which I felt aligned philosophically and culturally that could provide a variety of projects for students in our experientially-focused classes at all levels.”

Riipen quickly became a solution to a longstanding obstacle. In online programs, where students are geographically dispersed, finding individualized projects has become increasingly difficult.

“The challenge I wanted to address was that of locating a project that could fit the unique skillset, program competencies and career needs for any individual student,” he shares. Riipen’s marketplace and support team now help him match learners to projects efficiently and equitably.

Riipen’s role has grown significantly at CCO.

“At Champlain College Online, Riipen has now become institutionalized with my graduate capstone students in several different programs,” he notes. Students now expect Riipen projects as a meaningful alternative to workplace-based examples. “Riipen is now part of CCO’s vocabulary whenever we discuss project-based learning.”

Support that extends the classroom.

For Dr. Haggerty, Riipen’s value extends beyond project access. The partnership also strengthens communication, coordination, and student support.

“The first and most important factor has been Riipen’s flexibility and ease of communication,” he notes. While student Kelly Chou shares this sentiment, adding “I really appreciated Enabled Talent’s clear mission and purpose-driven approach. The project provided a valuable opportunity to contribute to meaningful research around neurodiversity and workplace well-being. I’m grateful for the experience and the organization’s commitment to creating inclusive and psychologically safe work environments."

Matchmaking, ensuring alignment, and guiding communication between students, faculty, and employers all contribute to a smooth experience. This shared relational culture allows CCO and Riipen to adapt quickly during busy terms or challenging moments.

Impact on students and programs.

Students consistently affirm the value of work-based learning in Dr. Haggerty’s courses. Many adult learners, in particular, appreciate the opportunity to step outside their current workplace and explore new industries and fields.

“For many of my adult students, they have reached their saturation point of doing class projects in their own workplaces and have been able to break out into an area or industry of interest only because of a Riipen project.”

These experiences support skill development, career confidence, and professional transition—key priorities for CCO’s mission. As experiential learning expands across CCOs programs, the partnership continues to support the institution's strategy. Riipen helps connect students with both local partners and new relationships across sectors, providing flexibility, scale, opportunity, and mentorship to help grow their career.

One student, Ignacio Rivers shares such an experience, working with an employer that provided valuable feedback and guidance on their project:

“Throughout this capstone project, Victoria demonstrated exceptional professionalism and clarity in articulating her vision and requirements for the AI-powered cybersecurity solutions… What particularly stood out was her openness to discussion and willingness to reassess different approaches as the project evolved… This collaborative mindset created an environment where innovation could flourish while maintaining practical feasibility… She consistently provided timely feedback, clarified requirements, and offered strategic guidance.”

Looking ahead.

Dr. Haggerty sees the next phase of the partnership as an opportunity to grow in scale and to refine the matching process to achieve greater efficiency.

Over time, he hopes to increase volume, build recurring employer relationships, and simplify processes so more faculty and students can participate. “At the end of the day, building experiential learning opportunities is a matter of starting somewhere, learning and adapting, Riipen has been an ideal partner with which to do that.”

His vision remains grounded in a clear goal: ensuring that every learner has access to meaningful, reflective, and career-advancing work experiences. “Working with Riipen has been amazing to be able to offer my graduate students the option of finding a major project and industry that fits their emerging career goals so precisely.”