President Melissa Gilliam (right) talked about careers, internships, and community connection during the Career Summit Fireside Chat on Wednesday, in conversation with Associate Provost Sarah Hokanson.

University News

Championing Real-World Learning as Part of Every Student’s BU Experience

President Gilliam speaks to more than 180 faculty, staff, and students from around the University at Career Summit

“I think every office needs a Boston University graduate,” said BU President Melissa Gilliam. But they need undergraduates too.

Internships and real-world experience were key topics at the BU Career Summit on Wednesday, where Gilliam spoke to more than 180 “career champions” from around the University—faculty, staff, and students—who gathered to advance the Every Student Receives Vision initiative.

Every Student Receives Vision intensifies the focus on real-world skills at BU, shifting from an opt-in career services model to a career “ecosystem,” where experiential learning, a robust mentorship program, and employer engagement are integrated throughout the four-year student experience.

It’s an important shift at a time when the rise of AI and the cost of education are making students and parents increasingly focused on career outcomes, Gilliam said at the summit at 1 Silber Way.

“I think a large part of what students need to do is to take some of that work that we’re doing foundationally here at BU and then be able to translate it into professional settings,” she said in a fireside chat with Sarah Hokanson, associate provost for academic initiatives and operational excellence. 

That makes internships more important than ever. Gilliam gave attendees an early look at Launchpad, a fully funded summer internship program for first-years, which will be piloted this summer with 30 students.

“We’ve known for a very long time that what happens in the informal learning space can inform what happens in the formal space,” Gilliam said. “You can fail and make mistakes that you then learn through and bring back into the classroom. So it’s a dynamic formula for success.”

Launchpad will promote early access to experiential learning opportunities​ for all students, regardless of background or financial means, to build skills, confidence, and networks early in their time at BU. A robust support system will help them succeed.

This summer’s 10-week pilot program will include internships at GBH, the city of Boston, the Museum of Science, and Boston Medical Center—BU’s primary teaching hospital. The hope is to grow Launchpad to serve 300 students in summer 2027 and 1,000 by 2029.

“When I’ve talked to students who are further along, one of the things I heard is, ‘I wish I had gotten engaged in internships sooner,’” Gilliam said. “I too can reflect back and have that same mindset. So it’s so wonderful to have the support from BU—and, hopefully, from our broader community—to launch Launchpad.”

An important part of the success of Every Student Receives Vision and Launchpad will be the involvement of alumni and other members of the University community to help identify and connect business partners, Gilliam said. 

“Part of what students need is opportunities,” she said. “And so if you have connections, if you have a network, bring those people in. Parents are going to be a really important part of giving 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds who are new to the workforce a chance, because they can see that in their own young person.”

Internships benefit employers, too. “I have a lot of undergraduates in my own office, and they have really changed the face of the office—the energy, even if they’re sitting there, somebody’s doing their homework, it is fantastic,” Gilliam said. “I think we are producing, collectively—graduating with the help of parents and families and obviously the students themselves—students who are curious, intrepid, resilient.”

While BU remains a preeminent research institution, the focus on career education energized the summit attendees. “I just really want to say thank you on behalf of our career champions,” Hokanson told Gilliam, “for elevating such an important issue for our students and making it so prominent in your presidential priorities.”

The “fireside” was actually a video of a blazing hearth shown on the big screen behind the stage. During the event, Gilliam shared some personal insight.

“I got a call from a friend of mine who said they were on the train to New York,” she said. “And there was this group of students who just kept getting up and offering people seats and were just remarkable. And so she finally said, ‘What university are you from?’ And they said, ‘Boston University.’ This was a group that was going on a career trip to New York, but this kindness, this sense of service, was so remarkable that somebody sitting on a train had just asked who the students were. So that’s a BU student, and I think that is really exciting.”