About Us
The Office of Experiential Education was created to carry out the experiential education part of the Transformative Education 2.0 initiative. The Office is part of the Office of the Provost, in the Teaching and Learning Division.
Mission: to support, enhance, and expand undergraduate experiential education at Purdue – West Lafayette
Director: Jennifer Dobbs-Oates, Ph.D.
Dr. Dobbs-Oates is an experienced practitioner of experiential education, including internships, service-learning, field-based experiences, and role-play exercises. She served as the Provost’s Fellow for Experiential Education for one year before launching the Office of Experiential Education as its inaugural director. She is a national leader in the field, serving on the Board of Directors of the National Society for Experiential Education. She received the Experiential Education Rising Leader Award from the Society in 2019.
Dr. Dobbs-Oates is a clinical associate professor of Human Development and Family Studies. She has published and presented about experiential education in venues such as The National Teaching and Learning Forum, Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education, the Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, the conference of the National Society for Experiential Education, the conference of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning, and the Experience-Based Learning Institute.
Sr. Program Coordinator: Kathryn Stremiecki
Stremiecki is a career student affairs practitioner with a background in experiential education through co-curricular opportunities. For the last 15 years, Stremiecki has served as a student activities and applied learning professional at higher education institutions throughout Indiana. She has presented at conferences such as the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities and the American Democracy Project National Meeting on topics related to applied learning, co-curricular experiential education, and assessment in co-curricular activities. Stremiecki is currently working on her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a major in Career and Technical Education at Purdue University.
