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If you are visiting this web page, it is probably because an Earth, Life, and Time student has approached you about supervising them in their Spring practicum. Here is a review of what, exactly, supervising an Earth, Life, and Time practicum project entails.

Types of projects:

• "Discovery projects." Discovery projects are intensive academic research projects undertaken under the supervision of the College Park Scholars discovery Project Coordinator, John Cordes, and of an expert in the field of the student's research.
• Service-learning/internship projects. Projects in which the student performs services for a nonprofit or for profit enterprise. Appropriate duties are those that produce an educational benefit for the student as well as providing service to the sponsoring organization.

Time commitments:

Students may register for one, two, or three credit hours of the practicum. For the internship or service project, one credit hour should entail at least twenty five hours of work on site, two credits should entail at least fifty hours, and three credits should entail at least seventy five. Time actually spent on the Discovery project will vary with the nature of the research.

Student Responsibilities:

• In planning their practica, students are to keep the following goals in mind:
  
  • Satisfying curiosity about an area of particular interest in natural sciences.
  • Developing personally through the planning and completion of a demanding project.
  • Accomplishing an achievement that can be used promotionally with future employers, faculty advisors, and graduate schools.
• Students are responsible for identifying, contacting, and negotiating learning contracts with potential supervisors.
• Students and supervisors must agree on what duties the student is to perform, the time frame in which these are to be preformed, and what final products the student is to produce. These terms must be indicated in a Learning Contract to be signed by both student and supervisor and returned to the Earth, Life, and Time faculty directors.
• Near the end of the Spring semester, students will make a poster presentation and submit a written account of their practicum. (In the case of a Discovery Project, the final paper will be submitted in lieu of the written summary.) These will be evaluated by the faculty directors, not the supervisor.

Supervisor Responsibilities:

Practicum supervisors must commit themselves to performing the following duties:

• Contributing their expertise to help the student plan their practicum.
• Students and supervisors must agree on what duties the student is to perform, the time frame in which these are to be preformed, and what final products the student is to produce. These terms must be indicated in a Learning Contract to be signed by both student and supervisor and returned to the Earth, Life, and Time faculty directors.
• Meeting with the student at regular intervals during the Spring semester to assess progress and provide direction.
• Assessing student performance at the end of the Spring semester, and making this assessment available to the Earth, Life, and Time faculty directors.

Questions? Contact Faculty Directors:

• Director:
  Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
  tholtz@geol.umd.edu

• Associate Director:
  Dr. John W. Merck, Jr.
  jmerck@wam.umd.edu

Current Deadlines:

Earth, Life, and Time students are required to submit a formal practicum proposal, including signed learning contracts, during December of the Fall semester in order not to be penalized. Currently, no due date has been established for Fall '03, however it will be included in the Fall syllabus of CPSP218g, the ELT colloquium. If you are interested in supervising an Earth, life, and Time student, but feel that you will not be able to help them complete their proposal and learning contract by this date, please contact the faculty directors. We can work something out.

Thanks. We look forward to working with you.

Last modified: 6 June 2003