Field Education

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Choosing a Placement: Process and Timeline

Two important points:

1. Securing the right Field Education placement to meet your particular learning goals takes some time, and it is important that the process be given ample time to come to fruition.
2. The process of deciding on a placement is a mutual decision between the student, the placement and the Field Education faculty..

Generally speaking, the process is as follows:

• In mid-October through December of the year (or summer) before you hope to engage in Field Education: Make an initial appointment with your Field Education faculty member. (A list is posted in the Field Education Office indicating whether you will work with Viki Matson or Trudy Stringer on this process.) Obviously, the sooner the process is initiated, the better the chance of getting the best "fit".
• After we have a sense of what you want to learn and experience in your Field Education placement, we will suggest possible placements. You will have the opportunity to visit churches or agencies and talk with key people about your respective hopes and expectations. Visiting or interviewing at a placement does not commit you to doing your Field Education there. You may want to give serious consideration to more than one site before making a final decision.
• We will make the initial contact with prospective placements and notify you by memo or e-mail of the next step. It is imperative that you stay in close communication with us as this process unfolds.
• Once you have made a decision about the placement, the next step is to arrange a meeting with your future supervisor for the purpose of completing a Preliminary Contract. This document outlines your initial plans and understandings of the Field Education experience. It represents a good-faith agreement about your intentions.
• When your Preliminary Contract has been completed and returned to the Field Education Office, you will receive a "Permission to Register" form which is required in order to pre-register for Field Education.

Field Education placements ought to be in place before Spring pre-registration, which occurs in early April.