Partners
Our Experiential Partnership Managers will work with your organization to identify a project that aligns with both your business needs and the learning objectives of Northeastern courses. We then work with faculty who teach courses in over 90 different academic disciplines to embed your project in a course with aligned content.
Our talented students will work with the expert guidance of our faculty to accomplish the goals of your project and will in most cases earn course credit for their work. This arrangement enables organizations to move forward on project-based work at no cost while giving students highly relevant work experience and real-world learning opportunities.
By submitting an XN project to be matched with an academic course, your organization can:
- Receive insights from students who bring a fresh perspective to your organization.
- Assess and engage rising student talent through project-based work.
- Give new and rising managers opportunities to mentor and develop high-potential students.
What kinds of projects are good for Northeastern courses?
Students bring proficiency in many domains; the most popular courses that embed XN projects include the following. Projects are not limited to these topics. Please get in touch with any project needs you have.
- Analytics and business management courses
- Healthcare, regulatory, and biotechnology courses
- Communications and digital media courses
- Leadership, human resources, nonprofit, and education courses
- Project management courses
- Manufacturing, security, and global operations courses
How to partner:
To consult with a Partnership Development Coordinator about whether XN projects are the right engagement for you please fill the form below:
If you have a concrete idea for a project (or are returning) and feel ready for a course match, please visit this form to submit.
If you’d like to distribute our flyer to your network which contains a link to our e-submission form: NU Experiential Network 2024.
*Please review the XN Partnership Guidelines for more information about expectations for students, faculty and sponsors engaging in XN projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are sponsors supported?
Partner liaise with one or several members of the XN team member to support project development, negotiation with faculty once matched to a course, and ongoing execution inside the course alongside faculty and students.
How many projects can I submit?
As many projects as you are willing to provide, given that you have the bandwidth to manage them at once. Keep in mind that you may be working with several groups of students on a single project depending on the course.
Is there a submission deadline?
No, projects are accepted on a rolling basis with courses matches occuring on an academic term/semester calendar.
What is the commitment from my end? Does this cost anything?
There is no cost for sponsor participation. You must commit an hour a week to guiding the students and faculty and providing feedback. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
How do I get paired with students?
We match projects with courses, not individual students. Some courses accept multiple projects, and some only run with one project; this largely dictates how many students will be collaborating on your work. We simultaneously collect projects from sponsors and work alongside faculty to complete matches based on the learning objectives in the course. This ensures the best match!
What makes a project particularly successful for students?
Engaged sponsor = engaged students. Open communication, industry-based mentorship.
How is the work protected (i.e. NDAs)?
All students are aware of Northeastern’s academic code of conduct and you can trust them to be academically-oriented sharing partners and nothing more. XN engagement guidelines for sponsors are found here. Sponsors may provide an NDA to faculty and students, however in class sharing is very necessary as this results in the best feedback.
XN partners often move on to partnering with the university in other ways. Learn more about posting a co-op, internship, or full-time position for our students here.
