For Supervisors/Employers | Practicum | Centre for Career and Vocation

Practicum: For Supervisors/Employers

Interested in Hosting a Practicum Student?

Are you an organization or employer interested in hosting a practicum student? If so, thank-you! It is our goal to ensure that all placements are mutually beneficial for our students and for your organization. For our students, it's a chance to bridge classroom learning with hands on experience. For you, it's an opportunity to provide mentorship to someone new in your field, and of course benefit from the work they complete during their time with you.

Responsibilities for host organizations include:

Providing a job description for the student's role with the organization.
To orient your student to your organization and ensure they have appropriate, meaningful work to do for the duration of their practicum.
Providing supervision and mentorship throughout the placement, with meetings approximately weekly.
Communicate with the Practicum Office through periodic check ins via email, or if challenges arise.
Complete a final evaluation of the student after their hours requirement is complete.

Placements are completed either over one or two semesters at 5-6 hours a week, or over 12 weeks at 20 hours a week. We look for placements were the student can take ownership over some aspect of what they're doing and increase responsibility over time.

We are always looking for opportunities to partner with organizations to provide meaningful and engaging placements for our students. Let's connect!

For Current Hosts: What to Expect

Thank you for your work supervising, mentoring, and encouraging our students in their work-integrated learning placements—we are grateful for your partnership. Below is an overview of what you can expect throughout the semester.

Early-Term

Plan to onboard your student in the manner that makes the most sense for your organization. Your student will be creating a learning plan with goals for their time with you that they will provide to you for collaboration and feedback. Expect them to reach out to set up a meeting to talk about this plan.

Mid-Term

This is the heart of the placement. Students should be engaged in meaningful work that is scaled in appropriate ways as they develop skills and competencies. Throughout their placements, students should be meeting with supervisors regularly for feedback and conversation.

The Practicum office will reach out mid-term to make sure things are going smoothly, so please keep an eye out for our email. If you have concerns at any time, please reach out to us by following the link below.

End of Placement

Plan to off-board the student in the manner that makes the most sense for your organization. Following the completion of their hours, supervisors are required to submit an evaluation form and recommend a pass or fail. We will contact you about this evaluation.

Students cannot pass practicum without a passing evaluation from you, their supervisor. Note that students do not see the final evaluation when it is submitted to CMU, but you may choose to discuss your evaluation with them if you wish.

Concerns or Feedback?

If you have any concerns or questions, or would like to offer us feedback, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

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