MCC offers a variety of hands-on learning opportunities that connect classroom knowledge with real-world application. Whether through internships, co-ops, fieldwork, clinical experiences, apprenticeships, entrepreneurship, or civic engagement, students can build practical skills, gain professional experience, explore career interests, and make meaningful connections that support their academic and career goals.
SUNY defines Applied Learning as an “educational approach whereby students learn by engaging in direct application of skills, theories, and models." Read more at Applied Learning at SUNY.
The Democracy Commitment (TDC) is an ongoing effort to institutionalize, centralize, and coordinate civic and democratic education. The project’s activities include a National Voter Registration Day where students organize and plan activities to register other students to vote. Additionally, those students who registered new voters affirmed their own commitment to civics and citizenship, Students also assisted with a Rock to Vote event with educational materials and candidate presentations. This encourages students to be informed and active citizens by inspiring them to exercise their right to vote.
Available in the Fall and Spring semesters. Students may either work in either the Orlando, FL or Anaheim CA theme park. This program is open to all MCC students. To be considered, an MCC student must have attended at least one semester full-time, have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher, and in the semester prior to starting must have completed two courses (not TRS) with a C or better. Disney has their own requirements, and the student must interview with Disney as part of the process. While at Disney the student’s time is split between working at the park (3 to 45 hours per week; maybe more at peak times) and taking college coursework (chosen from nine areas of study). If a student does not meet MCC requirements, regardless of whether Disney accepted them based on their interviews, they may not participate in the program.
The Entrepreneurship and Applied Business Studies A.A.S. program includes two Entrepreneurship Studies courses; BUS 110 and BUS 210. They are designed for students interested in learning how to start and manage a small business.
An internship is a formal arrangement designed to provide opportunities for students to study and experience professional career interests outside the college, to test the waters in a career field, and to gain valuable work experience. Internships can be credit, non-credit, paid or unpaid. For programs without an internship or co-op option, students can enroll in EBL 101.
Apprentice Training can be found in both Automotive Technology and Precision Machining. All the Apprentice courses are required and students are paid. Students are responsible for finding employment for their apprentice location, and also must pass a drug test and a criminal background check prior to employment. The Applied Technologies Center (ATC) has many contacts based on the positive past work experiences of students. Employers sometimes call the ATC with a job opportunity which is then posted for students. The ATC does not formally track past employers contact info.
A clinical/practicum is a period of intensely focused practical application of classroom and textbook theories and case studies to the actual world of work. This includes observation and often, on the job training (OJT). The practicum is supervised by professionals at school and/or off campus and usually overseen by a specific course number and professor or panel of professors and instructors as well. Examples include Nursing and Radiologic Technology.
A co-op is formally recognized as an academic program integrating classroom learning and productive paid work experiences in a field related to a student’s academic and career goals. Co-op provides students with progressive learning experiences integrating theory and practice and serves as a partnership among students, educational institutions and employers.
Fieldwork is an opportunity to develop skills by observing, recording, mapping, and interpreting data. Research may be limited to one subject or may encompass a number of different, limited topics. Fieldwork is often cited as one of the best ways to put the theories that you learn in the classroom to a practical test. The best fieldwork experiences combine supervision and education (lectures, note-taking, and directed observation) with independent research practicum (designing a research methodology, collecting and recording data, and drawing conclusions that result in the acceptance or rejection of an original hypothesis). Human Services utilizes the fieldwork model.