In a constantly changing world facing declining life expectancy, the existential threat of climate change and the chronic challenge of income inequality and the pandemic, universities are reexamining their roles in society and their obligations to their students. For learners who need agile problem solving and other skills as well as deep disciplinary knowledge, there is a gap in what universities provide. For government and industry, there is a desire to forge stronger collaboration and partnership with universities and their talented students, staff and faculty.  Whereas experiential and hands-on learning may enable such engagement, for universities, however, experiential learning is very time and resource intensive, difficult to scale, and hard to combine effectively with other forms of doctrinal and disciplinary learning. Furthermore, we do not always know how to define its impact for learners, for industry or for society at large.
 
The conversation focuses on 1) innovative examples of experiential learning, 2) best practices for engaging stakeholders in the design and implementation of such programs,  3) strategies to assess the impact of experiential learning efforts, especially equitable impact, and 4) how the university would need to transform if experiential learning were its centerpiece.