guidelines

Work Experience Practicum
Overview & Guidelines

Forest Engineering, Forest/Civil Engineering, Forestry, and Wood Innovation for Sustainability majors are required to complete a six-month work experience practicum prior to graduation.

Students from all College of Forestry undergraduate majors are encouraged to seek out work and internship experiences.

 The following principles provide guidance and outline the goals for required work experience.
  1. Promote learning and development.
  2. Connect in-class education with on-the-job training through paid (or unpaid) employment.
  3. Provide the opportunity for students to “test-run” a type of job, an agency or business prior to entering the workforce in that specific area.
  4. Engage students in active practice of their chosen field of work with the benefit of a seasoned professional’s guidance. 

 

Requirements

  1. Students must complete work equal to six months of employment.
    1. Work does not need to be consecutive six months and can be completed in shorter periods (i.e., two 3-month summer periods, etc.) as long as the duration totals six months.
    2. Work experiences can be either paid or unpaid; full-time, part-time, seasonal, internships and volunteer positions all count towards this requirement. 
    3. One month of work equals approximately 150 hours; six months equals approximately 900 hours of certified work experience. It is the student's responsibility to track dates and hours worked. You may wish to confirm this information with your supervisor prior to submitting the work experience form in order to ensure consistency and accuracy. 
    4. Work should be related to your area of study. If you have questions about the type of work that is acceptable, please make an appointment to speak with your Advisor.
  2. Work experience forms should be submitted NO LATER THAN ONE TERM BEFORE YOUR ANTICIPATED GRADUATION TERM. This allows supervisors, Department Designees and Advisors sufficient time to evaluate and certify your work.

 

Assessment and Approval Process*

  1. Work Experience Practicums will be evaluated and assessed by a Departmental Designee^. Departmental Designee's will contact students whose practicum does not meet the learning outcomes or where job performance was unacceptable. The following areas will be assessed:
    1. Is the work experience applicable to the student’s program (major) and educational and career goals?
    2. Does the work meet approved types of employment (legitimate business or agency, supervisor not a family member or fellow student, etc.) (Please see instructions regarding fellow student supervisors and self-employment).
    3. Was there a degree of competency reached for each of the learning outcomes (per the evaluation provided by the supervisor and based on the student’s own assessment)?
  2. The Departmental Designee will determine if or when exceptions* are made to the requirements, approval process, duration of employment, etc..
  3. The Departmental Designee will evaluate the student’s assessment of the learning outcomes.
  4. Upon approval and completion of an acceptable practicum and learning outcome summary/assessment, the student’s Advisor will enter the details into MyDegrees and OnBase.

^ Departmental designees are appointed by the Department Head and will be a Professorial or Professional Faculty member who is well versed in the program and associated academic requirements and outcomes and will work closely with the major’s Academic Advisor.

*Exceptions beyond those stated will be approved by the College of Forestry Head Advisor and Director of Student Success.

 

Learning Outcomes

By accomplishing 6-months of work experience, students should be able to:

  1. Critical Thinking - Address the level of critical thinking they have obtained that has allowed them to comprehend, retain, and apply newly learned principles, procedures, tasks, etc. at an appropriate level for the position.
  2. Obligations - Assess how they accepted and fullfilled obligations with initative, reliability and consistency (in quality, timeliness, accuracy, skill level, attendance, etc.)
  3. Methods - Evaluate the methods by which they provided feedback and practiced judgments in a communicative and constructive manner that engages critical thinking skills.
  4. Engagement - Demonstrate how they engaged in safe practices and performance of duties.
  5. Communication - Describe how they effectively used verbal and written communication skills to demonstrate clarity of expression, clear organization of ideas, and an understanding of appropriate/specialized vocabulary; and express interpersonal communication competence.
  6. Leadership - Describe how they took on leadership roles or displayed leadership with the goal of professionally organizing and directing plans, procedures, teammates, etc. 
  7. Fit - Explain how this work experience fits into their career goals and/or their program of study(major).