2007 Landscape Architecture Internships Requirements

 

General information and
SYLLABUS material for:

LAR 444 Internship/Advanced Studies Planning Seminar
(1 cr. hr., 7th semester) Klein

LAR 648 Land Arch Design Studio VI
(4 cr. hrs., 8th semester) Donelin and Page

LAR 741 Problems in Land Arch (Professional & Free Electives)
(variable cr. hrs., 8th semester) Donelin and Page

LAR 645 Professional Internship Report
(1 cr. hr., 9th semester) Clement

Overview and Background

a. Introduction

Students have several opportunities for off-campus educational experiences, all including an internship with a professional office. You may choose to participate in an international studies program during the spring of your fourth year, following that experience with a summer internship of eight to ten weeks. Or you have the option of an extended spring and summer internship of 28 weeks.

Both internships have a credit/no credit work portion (LAR 645) and a graded course part (LAR 444) with particular requirements. Traditionally, these activities are scheduled as noted above; however, consideration will be given to opportunities that do not fall within the spring and summer of the fourth year of study. The Internship Director must approve all such variations.

The summer internship, which would follow a semester of international studies or the on-campus studio and other course work, has two main components of credit/no credit work and a graded course (LAR 645 and LAR 444).

Students doing the extended, 28-week internship have enrolled in LAR 648 and LAR 741 and will receive a grade for the work. They have completed LAR 444 and will take LAR 645 in the fall. Each course has specific requirements that are systematically evaluated by the faculty member(s) assigned to the course. These are described below in the sections on requirements and evaluation.

b. History

The value of professional internships has long been recognized, and summer internships have been a requirement in the landscape architecture program for at least twenty years. In the late 1990s, a 28-week, or “extended internship” was seriously discussed by landscape architecture faculty. The first students to complete 28-week internships as part of the formal curriculum did so in 1999.

c. Educational goals and strategies for learning

The objective of the Landscape Architecture internship program is to offer its students the opportunity to broaden their educational experiences by actively participating in a professional landscape architecture, architecture, planning and/or engineering office environment. The intention is to provide an opportunity for exploring the world of landscape architectural professional practice through professional activities and reflective activities that address educational goals and objectives. Students on internship are engaged in both academic and practice activities – they will be engaged in doing work, documenting their efforts, and reflecting on the experience. The internship is an opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge gained in school in a professional setting while also identifying the aspects of one’s education that warrant further exploration in the final year of study.

Although the students are earning academic credit, they should be paid a fair and appropriate wage for their contributions to the firms that employ them as interns – many of our students are quickly treated as regular employees due to their demonstrated strengths in professional skills, knowledge, and attitudes.

The educational goals and objectives of each student should be considered and defined before engaging the internship and should be committed to paper. These might be written in terms of specific skills or kinds of knowledge (e. g. critical thinking, creative process); project management; office management and structure for people, time, space and money; or values, beliefs, principles of practice (and life) and attitudes. Level of achievement might be in terms of awareness, understanding, competence and mastery.

Consider also, educational objectives in terms of the affective domain (emotional aspects of practice and life) as well as the intellectual or cognitive domain (e. g. learning about various forms of research, analysis, synthesis and evaluation). Defining what you are seeking will help you know when you are growing professionally and personally.

Developing a clear set of goals and objectives will be one of the assignments in LAR 444 in the fall (starting 2005). The refined educational goals and objectives, with feedback from LAR 444 instructor(s) and the Internship Director, and perhaps your academic advisor, should be shared with the sponsor early on in the internship, if not before engaging the internship.

d. Duration

The extended internship is a 28-week time period beginning in January and ending in August of the same year.

The summer internship may begin as soon as the spring semester is completed in mid-May and extend for a minimum of eight weeks.

e. Prerequisites for participation (courses, etc.)

Completion of an internship is required for all students in the BLA and Non-Baccalaureate MLA program and recommended for students in the Post-Baccalaureate MLA program. The internship experience is recommended for students who have fourth-year standing in the landscape architecture curriculum and who have successfully completed the core courses through the first semester of the fourth year, including Design Studio V, Construction III, and other courses. Exceptions to this recommendation may be granted when special opportunities or circumstances warrant completion of the internship at a different point in the curriculum. Students should consult the Department Head for such exceptions.

f. Approval

The Landscape Architecture Internship Director must approve the internship. Students are expected to work in an office that allows interaction with a licensed landscape architect. Students interested in an internship experience must apply to the Internship Director prior to the beginning of Spring Semester. A signed Internship Agreement between the Sponsor and the Student, stating the expectations and responsibilities of both parties, must be submitted and approved by the Internship Director before the internship begins.

g. Requirements – expectations and guidelines.

Before a grade can be issued for the Internship, the following requirements must be prepared and submitted in a timely manner for faculty review.

There are several products of the internship experience that might be evaluated by faculty during or after the internship period. These include a variety of media for recording observations and reflective thought — a portfolio of selected project examples, sketch books, journals, photography, videos and a collection of firm promotional/ marketing materials.

There are three specific requirements for the graded portion of landscape architecture internships. Internship requirements include:

1. Bi-monthly reports
2. Sponsor profile presentation
3. Summary exhibition board

These requirements are described in detail in the following sections.
The lists below are the beginnings of evaluation forms for each of the three requirements. Students should consult the linked web pages that are the actual forms to be used for evaluating these three components.

h. Evaluation summary and evaluation forms

The Internship Director and Landscape Architecture faculty will evaluate the work of each student.

A grade for LAR 648 will be given based on evaluations of the sponsor profile presentation and the summary exhibition board.

The Internship Director will determine the grade for LAR 741 for the spring term of 2007, based on his evaluation of the bi-monthly reports.

The quality of the overall exhibit for Internship is also informally assessed – it is a concern of the department that the show reflects a strong commitment to design and professionalism. The categories of evaluation include issues of substance (evidence of serious reflection in the content of journals and bimonthly reports) and format (quality of expression in written materials and oral presentation; quality of graphic design for Power Point slides and final exhibition boards).

i. Employer agreement and responsibilities

Employers are responsible for providing a range of experiences and exposure to all aspects of practice. They are to attend to the educational goals of students as well as practical matters of project management and completion. The categories for employer evaluation include design and communication skills, knowledge and attitudes (initiative).

Office performance will be evaluated by the employer in the form of a summary letter at the conclusion of the internship, which will be requested by the Internship Director.

Evaluation criteria to be used by the employer include:

• demonstrated skills and knowledge
• professional attitude, teamwork, ethical behavior
• reliability, consistency, etc.

j. Finding an Internship and Location

Students are encouraged to find internships that are not located in their home towns or regions so that they may obtain an enriching experience of exploration in a new environment.

For assistance in thinking about internship possibilities, arranging interviews, completing resumes and other employment issues, students should take advantage of the resources on campus and visit the web pages of KSU Career & Employment Services (CES). CES sponsors an annual KSU Career Fair in the fall semester, which brings some environmental design firms to the campus.

DESIGN EXPO
There are 135 professional design firms that participate in the Spring Semester, College of Architecture, Planning and Design’s, DESIGN EXPO. Third-year LA students should take advantage of this opportunity to meet professionals, determine the type of projects with which various firms are involved, and make contacts for their 4th year internship.

See, for example:

http://www.k-state.edu/ces/
http://www.ksu.edu/ces/intjob/jobsearchintro.html
http://www.ksu.edu/ces/events/careerfair/employers/careerfair.html

MOCK Interviews
MOCK Interviews are a good way to find internship possibilities. Each year the College of Architecture, Planning and Design cosponsors this event with CES. Mock Interviews give fourth and fifth-year students, and graduate students, “the chance to hone their interviewing skills with the help of prospective employers.

As part of the Mock Interview sequence of events, the College sponsors an annual Resume Workshop and Portfolio Workshop. These are well-advertised in the fall and should be attended by students planning to do an internship. Keep your eyes open for the announcements and posters.

Link to Internship Firm Data Base web page(s).

Design Expo, early in the spring semester of each year, is a series of events which allows students to meet professionals and initiate explorations of professional practice opportunities. Third year students should be aware of Design Expo and should attend the exhibit and perhaps meet and interview with some of the visiting practitioners.

Links to Design Expo web pages:

http://www.arch.ksu.edu/designexpo/default.asp
http://www.arch.ksu.edu/designexpo/event_schedule.asp

k. Contact

Please address any questions concerning the Kansas State University Landscape Architecture Internship program to:

Dan W. Donelin, FASLA, AICP
Department Head
Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning
Kansas State University
302 Seaton Hall
Manhattan, Kansas 66506-2909
Phone: 785-532-5961
E-mail: dandon@ksu.edu

l. University Notices
Academic honesty / plagiarism
Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and may be punished by failure on the exam, paper or project; failure in the course; and/or expulsion from the University. We are bound by university policy, and common sense, to warn you of severe consequences for very poor choices about completing work. By registering for courses you have implicitly agreed to be bound by the KSU honor code and policy.
For more information refer to the KSU Honor System and Code and academic dishonesty policy found at http://www.ksu.edu/honor/.
In the Internship context, this means acknowledging the authenticity of your work and making proper attributions to those who assist or do the bulk of the work in creating the products that are documented in presentations, journals, bi-monthly reports, or whatever form. It is better to be honest and safe than sorry.

Student academic creations
Student academic creations are subject to Kansas State University and Kansas Board of Regents (BOR) Intellectual Property Policies. The BOR policy states: “The ownership of student works submitted in fulfillment of academic requirements shall be with the creator(s). The student, by enrolling in the institution, gives the institution a non-exclusive royalty-free license to mark on, modify, retain the work as may be required by the process of instruction, or otherwise handle the work as set out in the institution’s Intellectual Property Policy or in the course syllabus. The institution shall not have the right to use work in any other manner without the written consent of the creator(s).”
“Otherwise handle,” as referenced in the BOR Intellectual Property Policy, includes display of student work in various media and use for accreditation purposes. The Kansas State University Intellectual Property Policy can be found at: http://www.ksu.edu/academicservices/intprop/policies.htm.

Disability
Students in LAR 444 should let the faculty and Internship Director know before Labor Day if they need any special accommodations for any kind of limitation that might interfere with learning in the internship courses. We will work with you.

m. Bibliographic references and resources

There are many sources for ideas and information on journals, sketchbooks, resumes and portfolios. A few are listed below: