Goals:

• Provide CSPA students with opportunities to explore new areas/offices within student affairs and higher education administration
• Expose CSPA students to a variety of supervisory and managerial styles and philosophies
• Challenge CSPA students to learn about services and areas in which they have little or no previous experience
• Provide CSPA students with opportunities to apply techniques, theories, and skills they are learning in the academic portion of the program
• Provide CSPA students with the challenge of identifying specific learning outcomes and expectations for individual practicum experiences, and communicating these to the site supervisor

Requirements:

• Practicum should directly relate to CSPA program goals
• Experience must be educational and incorporate participation on at least one major departmental project, program, or activity
• Minimum of 150 hours must be served at the site within one academic semester
• Learning Contract must be completed jointly between student and site supervisor, and submitted with the Practicum Request Form prior to practicum assignment approval
• Students may not have a practicum in the same area/department in which they are working as a graduate assistant or previous practica student
• Practicum Site Supervisor must be someone whom has not previously supervised the student
• It is requested that practica experiences occur within one academic semester or summer break. Exceptions must be approved through the CSPA Program Committee Assistantship/Practicum Coordinator
• Site supervisor must complete a written evaluation of the student and submit it to Practicum Coordinator within 2 weeks of completion of hours
• Site supervisor must be full time professional staff

Students must complete a 3 page summary paper outlining how the experiences met or failed to meet Learning Contract Outcomes

Learning Outcomes for CSPA Practica Experiences

CSPA students will:

• explore new areas within student affairs and higher education administration
• observe and identify a variety of supervisory and managerial styles and philosophies
• apply techniques, theories and skills they are learning in the academic portion of the program
• individually identify specific learning outcomes and expectations for each practica experience through the completion of a written learning contract
• work in conjunction with site supervisor to develop and write goals, outcomes, and expectations for the experience
• initiate discussion with site supervisors about their expectations for the experience
• practice professional communication and managing supervisory relationships
• participate in at least one major departmental program, service or activity through each practica experience
• complete a reflection paper summarizing observations, experiences, and recommendations for the site supervisor

These outcomes are evaluated by the site supervisor at the conclusion of each experience.