Academics

Eligibility Requirements

  • Minimum GPA of 3.0
  • Drew student with sophomore, junior or senior standing
  • Good academic and disciplinary standing

Program Director

Maliha Safri, Professor, Economics

Additional Navigation

Social Impact

Apply Now - Applications are due by October 1

This 8-credit program is offered every spring semester. Classes begin mid-January and end in early May. Students will travel to New York City for classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

An interview with the program director will be scheduled for finalists as part of the application process.

Information Session: Social Impact nycTREC

Date: Thursday, September 19th
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Zoom Link

Date: Thursday, September 26th
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Zoom Link

RSVP Here!

Big Experiences Lead to Bold Futures

Under the Launch career development platform, all students graduate with at least two experiential learning opportunities on their transcripts. Guaranteed.

This nycTREC program will count towards this out-of-the-classroom requirement in Drew’s rigorous curriculum.

Travel

Take the train from Madison to the Big Apple! During the NYC Semester on Social Impact, you will spend two days a week traveling to New York City to study how nonprofit organizations and social enterprises are trying to change the world for the better. Under the guidance of your faculty leader, you will interact with and learn from a variety of changemakers. From large nonprofits to small grassroots organizations, you will visit a range of sectors, including arts, education, the environment, and international development.

Rethink

Learn how various types of social impact organizations are working to address social challenges and injustices, ranging from poverty and human rights abuses to environmental damage. Analyze the history and development of the “third sector” while rethinking how businesses and organizations impact life and
society today.

Explore

Move beyond the classroom and explore how today’s nonprofits and social enterprises inspire change in New York City and across the world. Discover how different nonprofit organizations apply business techniques to uniquely address the world’s most serious problems. Determine when, and if, nonprofits are the appropriate institutions to tackle specific social issues. Explore which economic factors drive for profit and nonprofit decision making, and what other factors push change-makers into making the decisions they do.

Connect

Design your own solution to a real-world challenge. Collaborate with an actual social change organization, to fix one of the social issues you have focused on throughout the semester. Draw your own conclusions about the role of social impact using your new experiences.

Costs and Financial Assistance

Each nycTREC has an associated program fee, which is posted each semester in the Course Catalog. Students receive a grant to cover round-trip transportation to New York City from Madison and program-related events and activities.

All of your Drew University financial assistance, whether merit or need-based, may be applied to all Drew-sponsored semester programs.

 

Featured Courses

Applied Analysis of Social Impact

4 Credits

This course compliments ECON/PSCI 387, with a focus on hands-on approaches to social entrepreneurship, as well as on obtaining the skills needed to successfully work for social change. The course will consist of a series of field trips, skills workshops, and a group project that involves working with a social change organization on a current challenge they are facing.

Permission of instructor required. Signature of instructor required for registration. 

Co-requisite course: ECON 387

Equivalent to: BST 387 & PSCI 387

Offered every Spring semester

CLA-Civic Engagement, CLA-Off Campus Experience

ECON/PSCI 387: Social Impact: Global Trends

4 credits

Using an interdisciplinary lens, this course explores how size, location, structure, mission, and globalization have shaped decision making processes within social change organizations. The focus will be on nonprofits, cooperatives, and firms with a commitment to achieving corporate social responsibility. A key question we will explore is why social entrepreneurship is increasingly associated with social change organizations. This question will be addressed through an exploration of both theoretical explanations and empirical examples of the economic, social, and political challenges facing social change organizations. Case studies will focus on both US and international contexts.

Signature of instructor required for registration. 

Co-requisite course: ECON 287

Offered every Spring semester

CLA-Breadth/Social Science, CLA-Breadth/International, CLA-Off Campus