Location
Green and Gold Room
Event Website
http://uenr.warnercnr.colostate.edu
Start Date
3-23-2012 4:35 PM
End Date
3-23-2012 4:55 PM
Description
Internship and experiential learning programs are compared between The University of Rhode Island (URI), Department of Natural Resources Science (1992-1996), and Texas Tech University (TTU), Department of Natural Resources Management (1997-current) through the periods in which I was associated with them. I review and compare the kinds of administrative support and faculty involvement, the numbers of students and kinds of opportunities provided in each program. Programs differed markedly: URI had invested faculty and support; whereas, TTU ‘encouraged’ students to participate. While data reported here does not account for differences due to regional or decadal influences, I illustrate that most differences occurred because of different faculty incentives, curricular emphases, and departmental objectives. I then conducted a survey and report on responses about the importance of these experiences from students who have been out of each of these school programs for > 10 years. Most students who participated in internships or experiential hands-on learning during their academic career said it was very important. Percentages of students who went on to be successful in a natural resource career was higher at URI. More of those graduates emphasized that the reason they made their career in the related natural resources fields was because of their internship or experiential experience while in school.
Dynamic Internship Programs: Comparison Between Two Universities
Green and Gold Room
Internship and experiential learning programs are compared between The University of Rhode Island (URI), Department of Natural Resources Science (1992-1996), and Texas Tech University (TTU), Department of Natural Resources Management (1997-current) through the periods in which I was associated with them. I review and compare the kinds of administrative support and faculty involvement, the numbers of students and kinds of opportunities provided in each program. Programs differed markedly: URI had invested faculty and support; whereas, TTU ‘encouraged’ students to participate. While data reported here does not account for differences due to regional or decadal influences, I illustrate that most differences occurred because of different faculty incentives, curricular emphases, and departmental objectives. I then conducted a survey and report on responses about the importance of these experiences from students who have been out of each of these school programs for > 10 years. Most students who participated in internships or experiential hands-on learning during their academic career said it was very important. Percentages of students who went on to be successful in a natural resource career was higher at URI. More of those graduates emphasized that the reason they made their career in the related natural resources fields was because of their internship or experiential experience while in school.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cuenr/9thBiennial/Plenary/14
Comments
Citation: Wallace, MC. 2012. Dynamic Internship Programs: Comparison Between Two Universities. UENR 9th Biennial Conference. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cuenr/9thBiennial/Plenary/14/