Fall 2025 Practicum Dates

Monday, August 25 -  First day of fall semester

Leading up to the start of the semester:

• Student and Field Instructor connect over email

• Pre-fieldwork onboarding

• E-sign Placement Agreement (Time2Track)

• Schedule student's first day (ideally Aug. 29 or sooner). Field hours can “count” starting Aug. 11

First week or so of fieldwork:

• Orient your student (including introductions to colleagues, organizational context)

• Work on the Learning Contract with the student (due Sep. 9). Student fills out the Learning Contract on their Time2Track account. Field Instructor and Student may opt to collaborate on a Google Doc before the student enters on Time2Track form. Once finished, the student submits and it goes to Field Instructor for final signature. 

• Student gets started on projects, training, and "a la carte" learning activities to maintain 5-7 hours/week average.

• Approve student's first activity logs and reflections and Time2Track.

Mid-Late September:

• Supervision meetings (minimum 30 minutes every two weeks). In-depth conversation with the student about how they are doing in the field (settling into the organization, progress on projects, access to quality and quantity of learning activities, and connections to broader learning goals).

• Student is working on Organizational Analysis assignment for practicum seminar class (due end of September). You can help by discussing organizational context and sharing internal resources such as org charts, institutional history, funding, strategic plans, annual reports, etc.

October:

• Supervision meetings (minimum 30 minutes every two weeks). In-depth conversation with the student about how they are doing in the field (increasing sense of competence, barriers, progress on projects, access to quality and quantity of learning activities, and connections to broader learning goals).

• Student is working on Interview with a Professional assignment for practicum seminar class (due early November). You can help the student connect with another staffer to interview and learn in-depth about the organization from a different perspective.

November:

• Supervision meetings (minimum 30 minutes every two weeks). In-depth conversation with the student about how they are doing in the field (expanding learning opportunities and challenges for continued growth, wrapping up or redirecting projects, new or revised learning goals, networking or other career development opportunities, connecting student's work with the broader mission of the organization, community connections).

• Complete Performance Evaluation on Time2Track (assigned at ~50 field hours) and discuss feedback with the student.

• Student is working on Civic Engagement assignment for seminar class (learning about advocacy and community engagement at the organization). You can help by talking about what advocacy looks like within your organization, including how staffers engage in advocacy within or outside of their formal roles. Due mid-November.

• Reflection and Evaluation meeting. Scheduled and facilitated by Pacific's Practicum Coordinator toward the end of the student's field hours (~70-90 hours completed), mid-late November. One-hour meeting over Zoom with Student, Field Instructor, and Practicum Coordinator. 

December:

• Plan with the student to transition out of the practicum. Wrapping up projects, saying goodbye, maintaining connections, sharing of mutual appreciation and feedback on the experience, discussing student's next steps (academics, career).

• Student is working on final reflections and optional additional professional interview assignments for seminar class. You can help by discussing feedback, self-reflection on performance, and articulating their fieldwork in terms of transferable skills and public health/workforce competencies.

• Tuesday, December 2: Deadline for student to log 70 field hours on Time2Track.