This fall, more than three dozen first-year students moved onto campus — and directly into their first career opportunities through a new program called DAY One Experience.
Paid student employment with University athletics and preparation for summer engineering co-ops with the UD Research Institute are examples of the opportunities available to incoming students through UD’s new experiential learning guarantee.
Students are guaranteed to complete at least one high-impact experiential learning opportunity, a way to build their skills, confidence and résumés in advance of their chosen career. Fulfilling this graduation requirement will also add the experience to their official transcript.
What will that transcript addition look like? Positions include women’s soccer manager, sports medicine intern and video production worker, who will be capturing events live for ESPN+.
Experiential learning, long a hallmark of a UD education, is already a component of more than 350 courses. Additional ways to fulfill the requirement include co-ops, research positions, education away and abroad, and vocation, leadership and service opportunities.
Positions include reflection, evaluation and growth. “Our goal is to give students hands-on experience in their field of interest while also helping to create successful leaders for the future,” said Trisha Greear, executive assistant to UD’s athletics director and vice president, of monthly cohort sessions for the athletics student employees.
Currently more than 40% of students complete experiential learning within their first three semesters. Students can now use the Flyer Connection portal they’ve been using to connect with alumni to search for work-based experiential learning from employers on and off campus.
UD plans to grow DAY One for the class entering in fall 2027.
A version of this article appears in print in the Autumn 2026 University of Dayton Magazine, Page 13. EXPLORE THE ISSUE — MORE ONLINE