General Studies 350: Independent Fieldwork
Course Guidelines
administered through the Carlson Leadership and Public Service Center
171 Mary Gates Hall | University of Washington | Box 352803
Phone: 206-543-4282 Fax: 206-616-4389
genst350@uw.edu | http://exp.washington.edu/carlson/
What is General Studies 350?
General Studies 350: Independent Fieldwork, is one option for University of Washington students interested in
earning academic credit for work based around internships. GEN ST 350 takes place in the context of a
“Learning Triangle” that consists of you, your Faculty Sponsor, and a Site Supervisor at your internship. In
order to receive credit, you need to complete an academic project on a topic related to your
internship, as well as complete your required internship hours. GEN ST 350 is a regular University of
Washington class subject to University guidelines including, but not limited to: tuition and fees, registration
policies, and grading standards. For information about registration and tuition, consult the University of
Washington Student Guide at http://www.washington.edu/students/.
How many credits can I earn?
You are eligible to earn 1-6 credits of GEN ST 350 per quarter. You may apply a maximum of 18 credits of
GEN ST 350 towards your undergraduate degree, with no more than 12 at the same internship. Determine
how many credits you want to earn based on the number of hours you will be working at your internship site
and the length of academic paper you plan to complete.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR CREDIT
Weekly
Total Hours
Credits
Hours at
at
Final Paper
Internship*
Internship
1
3
30
At least 5 pages
2
6
60
At least 5 pages
3
9
90
7-10 pages
4
12
120
7-10 pages
5
15
150
12-15 pages
6
18
180
12-15 pages
*Based on a 10-week quarter
The Learning Triangle: You, Your Faculty Sponsor, and Your Site Supervisor

YOU: You are responsible for securing an internship, finding a Faculty Sponsor and Site Supervisor, and
communicating the GEN ST 350 expectations to both parties. You are also responsible for completing your
required internship hours, submitting an academic project that meets your Faculty Sponsor’s expectations,
and maintaining correspondence with both your Faculty Sponsor and Site Supervisor.

FACULTY SPONSOR: Your Faculty Sponsor can be from any UW department, provided that they have faculty
status (cannot be a TA or graduate student). This person should be willing and able to help you process your
internship experience and shape your academic project. Your Faculty Sponsor will be grading your academic
project and submitting your grade to Academic Records. It is your responsibility to schedule meetings with
your Faculty Sponsor and ensure that you understand his/her expectations. It is also your responsibility to
ensure that your Faculty Sponsor and Site Supervisor are in contact with each other.

SITE SUPERVISOR: Your Site Supervisor should be the person who directly oversees your work at your
internship. You and your Site Supervisor should be making explicit arrangements concerning overall goals,
projects, duties, hours, and other expectations. Your Site Supervisor will need to verify that you have
completed your required hours by confirming this with your Faculty Sponsor.
Why do I need to do an academic project?
According to University of Washington policy, students cannot earn credit for internship hours alone. Instead,
you earn credit for using your internship to deepen your academic learning as you draw connections between
the classroom and your field experiences. You can think of your internship as the textbook for GEN ST 350.
You don’t get credit for reading the textbook, you get credit for what you do with it in your academic project.
The academic project is the equivalent of the exams, essays, and other assignments that you would be
expected to complete in a UW course.
Academic Project Details
Most students complete their academic project in the form of an analytic paper. Your final paper should
develop an argument about an academic topic, using at least 3 academic sources to offer evidence
in support of your thesis. The paper cannot simply be a summary of your internship experience.
Think of the internship as one of the many texts that support the argument or thesis promoted in the paper.
You should be working with your Faculty Sponsor to craft an appropriate and enriching academic project.
Projects alternative to an academic paper should be equivalent in size and effort to the number of pages you
would be expected to write according to the credits you will be receiving for the course. The project should be
completed in the same quarter during which you are working at the internship site.
How do I register?
All completed, signed General Studies 350 forms (application and learning contract) must be turned in at 171
Mary Gates Hall. Once your forms have been approved, the Carlson Center staff will register you. You will not
use web registration to register for General Studies 350. GEN ST 350 follows all of the University registration
deadlines as outlined on the Academic Calendar (http://www.washington.edu/students/reg/calendar.html).
Turning in GEN ST 350 paperwork after the 5th day of the quarter will result in a Universityassigned fee of $20. The absolute deadline to submit your application and signed learning contract is the
third week of every quarter. Please have your paperwork in our office (MGH 171) no later than 5 p.m. on
these days. If you are having difficulties with the application, please contact us as soon as possible.
How do I get credit?
GEN ST 350 is a Credit/No Credit course. You will receive credit after your faculty sponsor receives your
satisfactory academic project and confirms with your site supervisor that you have satisfactorily completed
your internship. If you have questions about your grade after the date that grades are posted (as designated
on the UW Academic Calendar), please contact your faculty sponsor.
What if my project will be late?
If the project is going to extend past the quarter in which you are enrolled, you must meet with your faculty
sponsor to negotiate a new deadline. You will receive an “X” on your transcript until all requirements are
completed. Please check with the Office of Student Financial Aid to ensure that the “X” will not hold up your
financial aid award.
IMPORTANT! KEEP THESE GEN ST 350 GUIDELINES FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.
YOU MUST HAVE THIS APPLICATION IN AT THE END OF THE 1ST WEEK OF THE QUARTER TO AVOID
PAYING THE $20 LATE REGISTRATION FEE.
THE ABSOLUTE LATEST DEADLINE TO SUBMIT THIS APPLICATION IS 5 PM AT THE END OF THE 3RD WEEK
OF THE QUARTER.
General Studies 350: Independent Fieldwork
Faculty Sponsor Guidelines
administered through the Carlson Leadership and Public Service Center
171 Mary Gates Hall | University of Washington | Box 352803
Phone: 206-543-4282 Fax: 206-616-4389
genst350@uw.edu | http://exp.washington.edu/carlson/
Thank you for taking the time to sponsor a UW student for General Studies 350. GEN ST 350: Independent Fieldwork, is one
option for University of Washington students interested in earning academic credit for work based around internships. These
guidelines were created to clarify the Faculty Sponsor’s responsibilities to their student and the program. Please review
these guidelines and contact us if you have any questions.
What am I required to do?
As a Faculty Sponsor, you have four key responsibilities:
1) Meet with your student throughout the quarter to act as a mentor, facilitating conversations about
how best to relate the student’s internship experience to their academic paper
2) Confirm with the student’s internship supervisor that the student has satisfactorily completed his
or her internship
3) Evaluate the student’s work, including grading the final paper or project, and send the student’s
grade to Academic Records
How often should I meet with my student?
This is really up to you and your student. When crafting the Learning Contract, make plans to meet throughout the
quarter. Typically, students meet with their Faculty Sponsors in person 3-4 times throughout the quarter, while
those who choose to “meet” through email do so more often (about once a week).
How do I contact my student’s Site Supervisor?
By the fifth week of the quarter we will email all students, Faculty Sponsors and Site Supervisors a spreadsheet that
includes the necessary contact information.
What are the guidelines for the final academic paper/equivalent project?
Minimum requirements for the student to earn credit are as follows:
1) The student must write a paper that is academic in nature—it cannot be a simple summary or daily log
of their internship experience. They should be making in-depth connections between what they are
learning at their site, what they have learned in the classroom, and what they are learning through
outside sources/other research.
2) The student must cite at least three outside academic sources in their final paper/equivalent project,
one of which must be from an academic publication such as a book or journal article.
3) The student’s final paper/equivalent project must follow the length guidelines set in this chart:
Credits
Weekly Hours
at Internship*
Total Hours
at
Internship
Final Paper
1
3
30
At least 5 pages
2
6
60
At least 5 pages
3
9
90
7-10 pages
4
12
120
7-10 pages
5
15
150
12-15 pages
180
12-15 pages
6
18
*Based on a 10-week quarter
How do I grade the paper?
GEN ST 350 is a CR/NC course. Your designation of CR verifies that the student has completed an academic project
that fulfills the GEN ST 350 requirements listed above. As a faculty sponsor, you have the authority to give
assignments above and beyond the minimum requirements. If the student has not met the minimum requirements,
or if s/he has not met the requirements set by you above and beyond the minimum requirements, you should ask
the student to revise the final paper/equivalent project before granting him or her CR for the course.
How do I submit the student’s grade to Academic Records?
You submit the grade via the online grading system (just as you do for any other course).
Thank you again for your participation in GEN ST 350.
Please contact us (genst350@uw.edu or 206.543.4282) if you have any questions.
General Studies 350: Independent Fieldwork
Site Supervisor Guidelines
administered through the Carlson Leadership and Public Service Center
171 Mary Gates Hall | University of Washington | Box 352803
Phone: 206-543-4282 Fax: 206-616-4389
genst350@uw.edu | http://exp.washington.edu/carlson/
Thank you for taking the time to sponsor a University of Washington student for General Studies 350. GEN ST 350:
Independent Fieldwork, is one option for University of Washington students interested in earning academic credit for
work based around internships. These guidelines were created to clarify the Site Supervisor’s responsibilities to the
student and GEN ST 350. Please review these guidelines and contact us (by phone at 206.543.4282 or by email at
genst350@uw.edu) if you have any questions.
What am I required to do?
As a Site Supervisor for GEN ST 350, you have three key responsibilities:
1) Verify that the student completes the correct amount of hours according to the number of credits
they are registered for
2) Keep in contact with the student’s faculty sponsor throughout the quarter if you have any
questions or concerns about your student intern
3) Contact the student’s faculty sponsor at the end of the quarter to confirm satisfactory completion
of the internship
How many hours is the student required to complete?
The following chart details how many hours a student intern must complete in order to receive internship
credit for GEN ST 350:
Credits
Weekly
Hours at
Internship*
Total Hours
at
Internship
1
3
30
2
6
60
3
9
90
4
12
120
5
15
150
6
18
180
*Based on a 10-week quarter
How do I contact my student intern’s faculty sponsor?
At the beginning of the quarter your student intern should provide you with contact information for his or her
Faculty Sponsor. By the fifth week of the quarter we will email all students, Faculty Sponsors and Site
Supervisors a spreadsheet that includes the necessary contact information. You will most likely receive
correspondence from the Faculty Sponsor at the end of the quarter asking you to evaluate the student’s
internship performance. If you have questions or concerns about your intern throughout the quarter, you
should contact the Faculty Sponsor.
Thank you again for your participation in GEN ST 350.
Please contact us (genst350@uw.edu or 206.543.4282) if you have any questions.
GEN ST 350 A: A P P L I C A T I O N F O R M






Please type or print neatly and fill out application entirely
Submit completed form to the Carlson Center, 171 Mary Gates Hall
Carlson Center staff will register you for GEN ST 350
Turning in GEN ST350 paperwork after the 5 th day of the quarter will result in a University assigned
fee of $20.
Absolute deadline to submit Application and signed Learning Contract is the end of the 3rd week of
the quarter at 5:00 pm.
Students who wish to drop the course must contact the Carlson Center.
Quarter_______________________
Year____________
Student #____________________________________
Student _________________________________________________ E-Mail___________________________@u.washington.edu
Last
First
Telephone ___________________________________ Major_____________________________
Organization Name________________________________________________ Internship Title______________________________
Name of Supervisor__________________________________________________________________________________________
Supervisor E-Mail____________________________________________________________________________________________
Telephone ____________________________ Fax _______________________ Location: __________________________________
City & State
Check if you will be interning abroad: _____
Faculty Sponsor’s Name_______________________________________________________________________________________
Must be University of Washington Faculty, not a TA or Staff Member
Department Code_________________________ Box # __________________________Telephone __________________________
e.g. COM, C LIT, etc.
Not an Office Number
Faculty E-Mail __________________________________@uw.edu
Number of hours per week at site: ____________. You MUST spend at least 3 hours per week at your site for each credit you plan
to earn.
Circle the number of credits to be earned:
1
2
3
4
5
6
Position is (check one): _____Volunteer
_____Paid - at the rate of __________________________________
Check if you are enrolling in the Summer for Fall option (Summer Quarter students only): _____
General Studies 350 A is Subject to all University of Washington Guidelines,
Including but not limited to Tuition and Fees, Registration, and Grading Standards.
Departmental Use Only
Faculty Load #: ___________________________ Date Registered____________ Initials_________ Entered in database_________
GEN ST 350 A: Learning Contract
Name_____________________________________ Student #_________________ Quarter___________ Year______
Last
First
Prior to registering for GEN ST 350, the Student and Site Supervisor must discuss and agree on the
following (it is recommended that the Student and the Site Supervisor create a written agreement for the internship
experience):
1. Learning Goals: What does the student intern want to learn as a result of this internship experience? How will
these goals relate to the student’s academic work at the University?
2. Job Description: What are the student intern’s responsibilities working with this organization?
3. Site Supervision: How will the student intern and the Site Supervisor evaluate the student’s work and progress?
By signing below, both the Student and the Site Supervisor confirm that they have discussed these items.
Prior to registering for GEN ST 350, the Student and Faculty Sponsor must discuss and agree on a process
for developing an academic project (it is recommended that the Student and the Faculty Sponsor create a written
agreement for the internship):
1. Academic Guidance: Based on the student’s learning goals, we have agreed on two or three possible topics for a
final paper or project. This paper or project will integrate fieldwork with analytic, conceptual, critical, and/or
theoretical knowledge and will not be simply a summary of the internship experience.
2. Sources: the Student is agreeing to complete research outside of the time spent at the internship to integrate the
experience with academic work.
By signing below, both the Student and the Faculty Sponsor confirm that they have discussed these items.
Although the Carlson Center has taken reasonable steps to provide the student with trained and skilled supervisors, it should
be understood this internship is not without risks. In signing this learning contract, the student acknowledges inherent
hazards and risks, including but not limited to physical injury and death, and assumes those beyond control of the University
staff. In case of emergency, I, the student, give my consent for emergency medical treatment and agree to pay for any
charges not covered by my personal health insurance.
I have read and I understand this Learning Contract, as well as the GEN ST 350 Course Guidelines.
_________________________________________________________________________
Student Signature
Date
I have read and I understand this Learning Contract, as well as the GEN ST 350 Site Supervisor Guidelines
provided to me by the student.
_________________________________________________________________________
Site Supervisor Signature
Date
I have read and I understand this Learning Contract, as well as the GEN ST 350 Faculty Sponsor Guidelines
provided to me by the student.
_________________________________________________________________________
Faculty Sponsor Signature
Date
GEN ST 350 students: please provide a copy of your signed, completed learning contract to your academic
sponsor and site supervisor (and keep a copy for yourself).
Turn in the original signed forms to the Carlson Center at 171 Mary Gates Hall.