Course Syllabus
Course: NR 2997
Division: Natural Science and Math
Department: Natural Resources
Title: Natural Resources Internship II
Semester Approved: Spring 2019
Five-Year Review Semester: Summer 2024
End Semester: Fall 2024
Catalog Description: This course is designed to provide hands-on, field based experiences in natural resources. Internships are an opportunity for students to link theory with practice. They are also designed to help students network with professionals, increasing their opportunities to receive full-time employment after graduation. Internships can introduce students to multiple professions within natural resources, helping them narrow down their specific areas of interest early on in their college experience. They are temporary, on-the-job experiences intended to help students identify how their studies in the classroom apply to the workplace. Internships can be paid or volunteer with a business, organization, or government agency and are individually arranged by the student in collaboration with a natural resource faculty member and a supervisor at the workplace. This course is repeatable for up to 6 credits, with no more than 3 credits per semester. Each credit requires 45 clock hours of internship experience. Internships are typically pass/fail credits. Students desiring a grade will need to negotiate a contract with significant academic work beyond the actual work experience.
Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring
Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 1-3; Lecture: 1-3; Lab: 0
Repeatable: Yes.
Prerequisites: None
Corequisites: None
Justification: “An internship is a form of experiential learning that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional setting. Internships give students the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience and make connections in professional fields they are considering for career paths; and give employers the opportunity to guide and evaluate them.” (NACE Definition, NACEweb.og)As such, internships provide students opportunities to explore career options through an engaged setting, they help students apply academic materials and skill to practical work situations, they provide valuable professional experience, and they develop interpersonal skills. Students who participate in internship opportunities secure work more quickly and are promoted more rapidly than students who do not. Often internships work well as capstone courses. All USHE institutions offer internship opportunities to their students.Students at Snow can enroll in up to 3 internship credits in an academic semester. No more than 6 credits can count toward the associate’s degree. Duplicate experience for additional credit is not allowed.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Understand and apply classroom material to a professional work situation. Students will demonstrate that connection through a reflection paper, their journal entries, and in conversation with faculty mentor and work supervisor.
Develop interpersonal skills. Students will demonstrate interpersonal skills by negotiating with faculty and supervisors as they design an internship contract. This will also be assessed through periodic work reviews.
Develop professionalism by developing self-initiative, time management skills, effect communication skills, punctuality, and professional conduct. This will be assessed through periodic work reviews.
Connect something from work environment back to a natural resource discipline. Students will demonstrate this in their journals, in their research report papers, and in conversation with their faculty mentors.
Discover the educational and practical experience needed for multiple careers in natural resources. Students will demonstrate this in their journals and in conversations with their faculty mentors.
Network with natural resource professionals Students will demonstrate this in their journals and in conversations with their faculty mentors.
Content:
This will be determined collaboratively by student, faculty mentor, and job supervisor. The internship contract uses a student’s academic and professional interests to serve as the intellectual starting points for developing a semester-long project. Together the student, faculty adviser, and work-site supervisor will design a project that meets the following criteria:1) Aligns with the student’s academic program,2) Offers the student an opportunity to significantly expand their current knowledge and skill set; and3) Aligns with the student’s professional pursuits.To qualify for an internship, a student must be in good academic standing (2.0 GPA); have completed 30 semester hours or have instructor permission; and ideally have completed coursework that relates to the work experience.
Key Performance Indicators:
To receive credit for an internship, a student needs to work in the profession at least 45 hours for each credit. For each credit awarded, students must also write a 2-4 page research paper on a topic pre-approved by the faculty mentor relating to their internship experience.
Work Supervisor Evaluation 5 to 15%
Work Documentation 20 to 30%
Reflection Essay/Research Paper 40 to 60%
Journal 5 to 15%
Pedagogy Statement:
Instructional Mediums:
Internship
Maximum Class Size: 25
Optimum Class Size: 15
