Obtaining Credit/Practicum

The Practicum is a zero-credit, pass-fail course recorded on a student's permanent transcript, provides a record of the student's participation in a University sanctioned internship, cooperative education, and/or service-learning placement and enables The Shriver Center to evaluate the student's performance.

The Internship or Cooperative Education Practicum is designed to assess students' professional performance, based on their mid-semester review, final appraisal and other information. For our Service-Learning programs the Practicum is a structured opportunity to reflect upon their service, and learn through an exchange of experiences while providing quality service to the community. The course can provide students with full-time status, independent of their credit load, so that housing, health insurance, student aid and loans can be maintained. Students are expected to enroll in the practicum each semester that they participate in Center programs.

The Practicum:

• Provides structure and establishes clear expectations for students and employers
• Provides evidence that the placement is a University sanctioned experience (transcript notation) whether or not the student receives academic credit
• Requires that students and supervisors set realistic learning objectives for each semester of placement
• Allows for evaluation of performance and placement
• Can be linked to upper-level academic credit when appropriate
• Allows students to maintain full-time student status while participating in internships and co-op

Practicum Forms

Obtaining Credit
Several courses are offered each semester that allow students enrolled in a Practicum Course to link their experience to a course offering upper-level credits in a variety of disciplines.

For a list of courses <<click here>> (WORD document)

Get Your Internship or Co-op Recognized
Students who have obtained or currently have an internship or cooperative education position can receive a transcript notation by enrolling in the Center’s PRAC course. And may be eligible to earn academic credit as a university sanctioned experience.

The following steps outline the process:

Obtain Verification from your Placement
Ask your employing organization to provide the following on their company letterhead with a signature of a professional staff member of the organization who can verify your intern/co-op status:

• A complete and detailed position description
• A commitment to employment dates that correspond to a full semester at UMBC
• The student’s schedule to include the days and hours worked per week.
• Supervisor’s contact information
• Salary information (if applicable)
• Have your employer sign the Employer Agreement (link to document)

Schedule Your Appointment
You are now ready to meet with a coordinator. Schedule your appointment by calling the front office at (410) 455-2493 or stop by The Shriver Center.

Arrive at your appointment with:

1) Your verification from your placement

2) Signed Employer Agreement

During your appointment your Shriver Center coordinator will enroll you in the appropriate zero-credit pass/fail Practicum, and discuss the requirements.