3.3 ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

3.3.1 Program of Emphasis

Every student entering Juniata College has the opportunity to design his or her program of study. Students will be assisted in this effort by their advisors and, as appropriate, by the Curriculum Committee. All student programs of study, or Programs of Emphasis (POE), are subject to approval by their faculty advisors and, when necessary, by the Curriculum Committee. Students may select either a designated or an individualized POE.

3.3.1.1 Designated Program of Emphasis

A student may follow an already designed program of study selected from a list of approved POEs. Depending on the area of study, some of the programs are made up of fully prescribed courses while others contain a variety of options and electives.

These designated POEs will be designed by departments or groups of departments and presented to the Curriculum Committee with supporting rationale. The Curriculum Committee will be responsible for authorization of POEs which become part of the official list kept in the Registrar's Office. The Curriculum Committee will use the following criteria to determine acceptance or rejection of the proposed designated POEs:

  1. Coherence of the program
  2. Evidence of study in-depth
  3. If interdisciplinary, relationship of the courses to a specific objective

The POE will consist of a minimum of 45 to a maximum of 60 semester hours of credit. Each POE will require a minimum of 18 credits at the 300 or 400 level. No more than two courses in the POE can be research or independent study courses. Students will continue to be required to write a rationale for designated POEs.

Within the POE a minimum of ten courses will be prescribed, either by a department or a group of departments or by action of the Student Academic Development Committee. The prescribed courses may be designated by departments or the Curriculum Committee according to one of three rules:

  1. The prescribed courses are specifically named.
  2. The prescribed courses are made up of some which are specifically named and some which are taken from a list.
  3. All prescribed courses are chosen from a list.

All courses which are required, including prerequisites, must be in the POE. At times, compelling reasons exist for offering a more extensive POE, such as extraordinary career opportunities or the requirements of external accreditation bodies. In such cases, a POE in excess of 60 credits but never to exceed 90 credits may be approved by the Curriculum Committee. Such an extended POE in no way reduces the core curriculum requirements.

POEs in excess of 60 credits must be jointly proposed by two or more disciplines and represent in-depth study in the major disciplines to be included. In such cases, the College must clearly have the resources needed to support such a program.

3.3.1.2 Individualized Programs of Emphasis

Students who do not adopt a Designated Program of Emphasis may design an Individualized Program of Emphasis of their own. This option is for students with particular interests not addressed in designated POEs to make appropriate combinations of courses to precisely address those interests. An individualized POE must contain a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 90 credit hours. A minimum of 18 credit hours must be at the 300 or 400 level.

Students wishing to pursue this option must:

  1. Select an advisor in each department named in the title of the POE. In the unlikely event that an Individualized POE title named three academic departments, three advisors would be required.
  2. Create, in consultation with the advisor, a collection of courses to constitute the POE. If a course listed in the POE has prerequisites, these prerequisites must also be included in the POE.
  3. Create, in consultation with the advisors, a goal statement and a rationale, which explains how the courses included in the POE enable the student to fulfill the goals for the POE. Ultimately, the acceptance of an individualized POE will depend on the student's ability to justify that a particular combination of courses will allow him/her to reach the stated academic goals. Special attention should be devoted to the description of those goals and the rationale connecting them to the courses selected.
  4. Solicit from all of his/her advisors supporting comments attesting to the acceptability of the student's academic goals, the appropriateness of the course selections and rationale, and the overall coherence of the POE. Advisors' signatures without comments will not be sufficient.
  5. Submit the completed POE and the advisors' comments to the Registrar for approval and graduation clearance by the Curriculum Committee. Members of the committee will evaluate the appropriateness of the POE title, course selections, goal statement, and rationale.

Any POE that does not satisfy the requirements of a Designated POE is by definition, an Individualized POE and must therefore be accompanied by a goal statement and rationale. Advisors should pay particular attention to attempts which effectively weaken a Designated POE without contributing sufficient complementary breadth or depth.

3.3.1.3 Program of Emphasis Dates

Freshman must submit a completed initial POE (In-POE) statement to the Registrar in the second semester of the freshman year.

Sophomores must choose a designated POE or design an individualized POE and submit an appropriate POE statement to the Registrar by the second semester of the sophomore year.

Seniors must submit a faculty approved, final version of the POE to the Registrar on or prior to the preregistration period for the spring semester. No POE changes, other than those caused by scheduling conflicts, will be permitted after this period.

3.3.2 Internship Program

3.3.2.1 Purpose

An internship is a structured learning situation where a student applies concepts learned in the classroom to the realities of an on-the-job experience. The primary purpose of an internship is to provide an educationally sound platform for the development of the student's human, social, and management skills through a field-based activity. Interns receive practical training and experience in a variety of settings through cooperatively arranged placements. Interns are placed in preprofessional, not menial, positions and work side-by-side with other employees or as "management trainees."

3.3.2.2 Credit Versus Non-Credit Internships

Credit for internships is not given for work per se. Students apply theoretical concepts to the workplace and reassess those ideas. Hence, academic credit is given for placing the preprofessional work experience in a conceptual and comparative context. The primary distinction between credit and non-credit internships is the degree to which students are required to reflect on their experiences. This distinction is reflected in the differences in the academic requirements, the degree of college supervision, the investment of college resources, and the student's payment for the receipt of credit.

With both credit and non-credit internships, placement is the joint responsibility of the internship staff, faculty members, and the students. In credit internships, the Department is expected to lead the placement effort, while in non-credit internships, the internship staff takes the lead.

In the case of credit internships students may be compensated for internship work as long as the department and/or faculty member believes that the college can maintain enough control of the internship experience to ensure its academic validity. Interns working in non-credit situations normally are compensated.

3.3.2.3 Credit Internships

3.3.2.3.1 Application Procedure

A student pursuing a credit internship must have a 2.00 cumulative average, junior or senior status, and be in good academic standing. Individual departments may set additional requirements, such as higher gpa requirements.

In order to apply for a credit internship, students obtain applications from the Internship Office, recruit a faculty sponsor, and secure a placement position. Then the students present internship proposals to appropriate faculty members (their faculty sponsor, both advisors, and the department chair) for review. Upon approval, students next submit these proposals to the Director of Internships and the Registrar for approval. Agency or placement contracts are developed as needed.

3.3.2.3.2 Course Designation and Evaluation

Students must register for an internship and an internship seminar. In both cases the faculty sponsor determines the amount of credit to be awarded, which in turn determines the intensity of the experience. A semester internship carries a minimum of four credit hours (2 internship hours + 2 seminar hours) and a maximum of 15 credit hours (normally 9 + 6, except in cases where an outside accrediting agency requires otherwise, such as Social Work and Education in which the division of credits is decided by the appropriate department). Students can receive no more than 15 internship credits during their four years at Juniata, including a maximum of six hours in summer internship credits (unless more summer credits are necessary for certification in a particular area).

The faculty sponsor awards standard letter grades (A-F) for the internship and the internship seminar.

The internship is designated as course 490 in the appropriate department ("Internship") and carries two to nine credits. Credit is awarded in proportion to time spent on the job according to the following figures:

2 credits = 8 hr/week
3 credits = 12 hr/week
4 credits = 16 hr/week
5 credits = 20 hr/week
6 credits = 24 hr/week
7 credits = 28 hr/week
8 credits = 32 hr/week
9 credits = 36 hr/week

Grading is based on the following criteria: weekly supervision by the placement supervisor; regular contact with the faculty sponsor including at least two on-site visits; a written learning contract, where appropriate; at least one interim assessment written jointly by the student, the placement supervisor, and the Juniata faculty sponsor; a final evaluation conducted by all three individuals; a journal/log of daily activities; and, if appropriate, a portfolio of work completed.

The internship seminar is designated as course 495 in the same department ("Internship Seminar") for two to six credits. Credit for this course is awarded in proportion to time spent working with the faculty member as follows:

2 credits = 6 contact or study hrs/week
3 credits = 9 contact or study hrs/week
4 credits = 12 contact or study hrs/week
5 credits = 15 contact or study hrs/week
6 credits = 18 contact or study hrs/week

Grading for the seminar is based on regular contact with the faculty sponsor; an organizational profile or systems analysis; an extensive written project, paper, or program as arranged with and periodically reviewed by the faculty sponsor.

Examples of past seminar requirements are:

2 credits:
  • journal of activities, outline of final paper, final paper, talk to student health group;
  • work journal, portfolio, annotated bibliography, oral presentation;
  • journal, public presentation, short assignment, term paper;
  • meet with sponsor, submit copies of projects, descriptive analysis of operations at placement.

3 credits:
  • log and annotated bibliography, research project and report, self-evaluation of performance, weekly meeting with sponsor;
  • read three books, daily journal, 15-20 page research paper.
  • journal, abstracts, outline of final paper, final paper, talk to student health group.

4 credits:
  • daily journal, two book reviews, outline of research paper, major research paper, weekly meetings with sponsor.

6 credits:
  • daily journal on significant events, weekly meetings with sponsor, three major research projects.

The intern must fulfill any additional departmental requirements provided these requirements do not conflict with internship policies.

3.3.2.4 Non-credit Internships

3.3.2.4.1 Application

Individuals pursuing non-credit internships must have a cumulative average of 2.00.

For non-credit internships, students submit application materials to the Internship Office until a full application file is collected. Agency or placement contracts are developed as needed.

3.3.2.4.2 Course Designation and Evaluation

Upon successful completion of all necessary requirements, a non-credit internship unit appears on the academic transcript as course number 001 ("Internship" followed by the title as approved by the Internship Committee) in the appropriate department. Students may complete more than one non-credit internship and receive transcript notation each time (course 002, 003, etc.).

The Internship Committee oversees and evaluates non-credit interns, awarding grades of satisfactory ("S") or unsatisfactory ("U"). Evaluation is based on the following elements: a learning contract where appropriate; contact with the Director of Internships; regular supervision and final evaluation by the placement supervisor; final evaluation by the intern; and a presentation to the Committee upon completion of the internship experience.

Interns must fulfill any additional departmental requirements provided these requirements do not conflict with internship policies.

3.3.3 Summer Sessions

3.3.3.1 Course Offerings

Summer Session academic programs are supervised by the Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs and administered by the Registrar. The number of courses offered and the size of the teaching staff are determined by the Summer Sessions' instructional budget which, in turn, is built upon the expected enrollment.

The Registrar is responsible for developing the schedule for the academic program. Faculty suggestions are solicited when the program is in the planning stages. No faculty member is permitted to teach more than two courses during the Summer unless the Registrar deems it necessary for a balanced academic program and no other qualified instructor is available.

The Academic Dean decides which courses are ultimately offered and will adjudicate difficulties not solved by negotiations with the Registrar.

Courses are expected to meet an average of 14 hours per session per semester hour of credit.

3.3.3.2 Compensation

The Summer Sessions' budget is established by the Registrar in consultation with the Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs. The salary schedule is approved by the Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs and the President, and the Office of Personnel Services prepares all contracts for the instructional staff.

Faculty who offer tutorials, independent studies, and Credit-by-Examinations during the Summer and those who supervise field work while not on regular academic year contract will be paid a stipend for the work involved in giving such courses. Field work courses may sometimes be offered as a regular part of the Summer program. In these circumstances, the faculty member supervising the field work will be offered a regular contract if there is sufficient student enrollment in the field work course.