Current Students On Campus Practicum
Practicum ProjectsThe Practicum is a credited course in which the on-campus graduate student in the Ministry Track of the Evangelization and Catechesis concentration or the Catholic Yourth Ministry concentration is engaged in some form of apostolic service in teaching or some other Church ministry. Scripture and Biblical Theology students are given the option to do a practicum project or a directed study. The application process for the practicum placement for frist practicum must be completed by the first Thursday in November of the fall semester prior to the last full year of course work. The practicum project may be used as the subject of a thesis, with the approval of one’s thesis director. Students who would prefer to write a Master’s thesis on a topic other than one drawn from the practicum project are free to do so. 1. Application for Practicum Placement The Augustine Institute has partnered with a number of Catholic apostolates in the greater Denver area which are willing to utilize and supervise our student interns. Students are asked to fill out an application stating a preference for placement in one of several ministry areas. Students must return this form to the Registrar by the first Thursday in November of the fall semester prior to the last full year of course work. Placements, based upon student interest and availability of apostolates, will be made before the end of the fall semester and the student notified. 2. Application for Students in an Established Apostolate Many Augustine Institute students are already engaged in teaching, catechetical work, and youth ministry. While the Institute encourages students to find a new Practicum project that will challenge some of their established habits and so serve as an original educational experience, students may apply to use their current work to satisfy the Practicum requirement. Only applications that propose some new project within an existing apostolate will be considered. The final determination as to the suitability of the project will be made by the Practicum Director. 3. Application for Special Projects Students who have an interest in interning with a particular apostolate in which they are not currently engaged (e.g., in an established parish or diocesan ministry) may apply to have that apostolate considered for a Practicum placement. Some students may wish to design an apostolate to fulfill the Practicum requirement and/or the thesis project. These methods of placement are the exception, and only project proposals that fulfill the supervisory requirement for the Practicum will be considered. Payment for Practica The Practicum project is intended to be a volunteer internship. If a student’s Praticum project has been undertaken as a component of his or her paid employment in a Catholic apostolate or ministry, the student may not receive compensation for the two hours per week dedicated to the Practicum project. Practicum Project as Thesis Topic If a student intends to use the Practicum project as the subject of a thesis, that topic must be approved by a thesis director, in addition to the normal Practicum application process. A student should not assume that the Practicum project will have merit as a topic. It is important that a thesis director be consulted to properly frame the project in terms of a proper research proposal. A practicum project, as distinct from a traditional thesis, should demonstrate a graduate level mastery of the skills necessary for programming and performance of some particular expression of the catechetical apostolate. A portfolio should include:
These and other evidence for assessment would all need to be properly bound together in an organized way for presentation to the director. As with an academic thesis, the director should be consulted and involved in the progressive development of the project and not simply given a finished work. |