ABSC 690/691 Community Health &
Development Practicum
Syllabus Overview and
Practicum Tutorial
Note
 You need to complete this full slideshow to know how to
obtain a permission number to enroll in the course!
Course Prerequisites
 ABSC 310/311 (*must have completed in a previous semester)
 ABSC 150/151 (previously completed or can be concurrently
enrolled)
 Students who are in their senior year (final 2 semesters) will be
prioritized for practicum placement
Course Materials and Resources
 The ABSC 690 course
textbook is the same as the
one used in ABSC 310.
 For additional reference and
support materials, go to the
online Community Tool Box
http://ctb.ku.edu/.
Course Objectives
 Enhance experience, critical reflection, and supported practice in
addressing problems and goals that matter to communities
 Apply core competencies to promote community health and
development in community-based settings
 Promote community-university partnerships through service-
learning
 Support student professionalism and career development to
enhance student marketability and employability
Required Practicum Hours and
Supervision
Practicum Hours
 Students will be responsible for completing a minimum of 12 hours
on site/with community partner organization each week
 Total of 144 hours completed each semester
 Students will also participate in 2 hours of class weekly, which do
not count towards required weekly onsite hours
 Class meets Wednesdays from 3-5 pm in 4034 Dole
Practicum Supervision
Practicum student are co-supervised by a community
partner site supervisor and the instructor:
 Onsite supervision- meet weekly at least one day/week when at
site during some part of your 12 hours
 Instructor supervision- meet weekly during class
Course Content and Requirements
Practicum Products
 Each student will be required to produce minimally one product to
support their practicum site
 The product should be one that adds value to the practicum site (e.g.
community needs assessment, program action plan, etc.)
 The product must be based around one of the 16 competency areas
(excluding modules 6, 9, and 14) that you received training in
ABSC 310/311 Building Healthy Communities
 If the practicum product will not take a full semester to complete,
the student must complete more than one product (e.g. community
needs assessment plus a strategic action plan)
Examples of Practicum Products
 The practicum product is negotiated between the community
partner organization/site and the student
 Examples of practicum products completed by students in
previous semesters can be accessed from link below:
 Example Practicum Student Products Note: If it prompts you to
enter a username and password, just close that dialogue box and it will
still let you open the file.
Practicum Small Group Meetings
 Each month, there will also be small group practicum
meetings (during class time) to allow the instructors to
further provide you with technical support and feedback in
the development of your products.
 You will be assigned to small groups and paired with other
students who are working on similar types of products (e.g.,
all students in one group may be working on evaluation or
assessment; whereas, another group may be working on
products related to implementation or action planning)
Practicum Presentations
 Practicum students will periodically prepare a 10-15 minute formal
PowerPoint presentation that describes and outlines the practicum
experience and progress in developing the related products.
 Presentations will describe the competency area, progress made on
supporting the practicum product, and challenges.
 Student presenters should also be prepared to field questions from
peers and instructors.
Practicum Evaluation
 Students will be evaluated by their onsite practicum supervisors
twice during the semester:
 Midterm Evaluation (instructors will conduct onsite visits or
teleconferences with supervisors)
 Final Evaluation
 At the supervisors’ discretion, evaluations will be shared with the
practicum student
 Students will be evaluated by their instructor supervisor
 Students also complete self-assessments of their practicum work
 Student will also evaluate their site partner
Professional Development
All practicum students are required to:
 Interview with potential community partners within the first couple of
weeks of class
 Over the summer, instructors will tentatively place students with an
appropriate community site, but the site is not final until the student and
community partner have met in person
 Attend two KU Career Center events each semester
 One event must be a resume development session
 Other event options include job interview workshops and career fairs
Additionally, Practicum students are required to:
 Create a LinkedIn (professional networking website) profile
 Develop a professional resume
Attendance/Absence Policy
Attendance Expectations
Students are expected to:
 Attend regularly scheduled practicum hours at the community
partner site
 Be prompt and on time to both class and the community site
 Attend in-class meetings and individual/small group appointment
times with the instructors
 Adapt personal and work schedules to fulfill their practicum
commitment with the community-based organization being served
Scheduling Practicum Hours
 The student schedule for supporting the 12 hours at the
practicum site is negotiated between the student and
community organization
 Recommended to identify times in your course schedule during
the semester you’ll take practicum where you have blocks of 3 or
more hours to make scheduling practicum hours on site easier
 It works best when students support multiple days at their practicum site
with larger blocks of time available at the site (e.g., 3 hour chunks four
days/week; 6 hour chunks/two days/week; 4 hour chunks 2-3 days/week)
 It becomes a little more complicated to accomplish daily activities if a
student is there in less than three hour blocks of time
 If your schedule is really tight, and you only have shorter periods of time
available (2-3 hours blocks), then it’s recommended you consider some of
our partner sites located on KU campus.
Absences from the Practicum Site
 Students must notify both the course instructors and the practicum
site supervisor, in advance, for any absences at the practicum site
 No unexcused absences are permitted at the community partner
site
 Students will be allowed only two excused absences (with prior
notification) at the community partner site during the semester
 After the third absence, the student will receive an automatic 10%
(letter grade) reduction for each subsequent absence at the
community partner site
Course Expectations
Class Participation and Attendance
 Throughout the semester, students will be scheduled to attend
individual or small group meetings with the course instructors to
discuss the overall progress of the practicum
 Weekly full-class meetings
 Monthly individual student or small group meetings
Attire
 Students are expected to wear clothing appropriate for the
practicum site and should dress in the same manner as the
employees at the practicum site
 Students are expected to dress in business attire for certain in-class
events (such as mock-interviews and presentations), as well as
interviews and presentations at the practicum site
 Class meetings in which business attire is expected are indicated in
the syllabus
Preparation for a Successful
Practicum Experience
Student Considerations
 Seek placement with appropriate partner organizations
 Over the summer, the instructors will match each student with an
appropriate community partner site based on your online practicum
student informational profile
 Allot the appropriate amount of time in your class schedule and
work/personal schedules
 Review competency areas
 (Keep those modules from ABSC 310/311!)
Placement Considerations
When identifying potential organizations/agencies for the
practicum consider the following:
 What are your professional/career interests?
 Do you plan to go to graduate school? If so, consider research
opportunities.
 What are the applied problem/goal areas you are interested in addressing?
 What are the populations/groups you have interest in working?
 What type of settings/professional base would you like experience working
from? (e.g., after school program, schools)
 What are competency areas that you would like experience (e.g., evaluation)?
Additional Considerations
Also, consider the following for identifying appropriate site options:
 What geographical areas (Lawrence, Topeka, Kansas City Metro Area) can you
work from for your practicum?
 Students who are open to work from different locations have more options
available
 Student who can work a couple of days in an out of town site (e.g., Topeka, KC),
can arrange to at least work some of their time (1-2 days) from our research lab
space in Dole Center if it makes it more feasible
 Do you already have a community organization/agency you have
identified that is of interest to you for the practicum?
 If so, then ensure you follow up with Dr. Thompson to ensure approval for
the site you may have already identified or have your own relationships.
 If not, then Dr. Thompson will help to place you with an appropriate site.
Site Placement Opportunities
 There are approximately 30 approved sites where the instructor
typically may place students (open link to view sites).
 These sites are listed in the practicum student profile online form to
indicate sites you may be interested.
 If you identify a site where you would like to be placed, but is not
on our standard list of placement options, then you should
indicate this information to Dr. Thompson in the practicum
student profile.
 Otherwise, the instructors will place you with an appropriate site
based on your preferences indicated in the practicum student
profile.
Completion of Practicum Student
Profile
 After you complete your practicum student profile, Dr. Thompson
will receive an automated alert that your information has been
submitted online.
 Then, Dr. Thompson will provide you with a permission number
to enroll in ABSC 690/691 only after the practicum student
profile has been completed.
 If over the summer, you identify any areas of your profile that you
need to modify/update, please go back into the profile and
update it accordingly, as Dr. Thompson will be notified whenever
you make an update.
Next Steps to Enroll in Practicum
 Students must complete/update practicum student profile
 If you are a Practicum 2 student (second semester in practicum), you
still need to update your profile
 To edit your profile, hoover over your last name and you’ll see a drop
down menu.
 Over the summer, instructors will match students with sites
 By the first day of class, instructors will notify you of your potential
placement site
 Ensure you periodically check your email address associated with KU
over the summer as we may email information regarding the practicum
 After completing tutorial and your profile, contact Dr. Thompson if
you need additional information regarding the practicum
Sample Profile List and Navigation
To create new profile go
here
To view or edit profile go
here
See you in August!
Go to the last/next slide to access the
practicum student profile link!
I look forward to seeing each of you in
August!
*Link to Practicum Student Profile
 Please complete the practicum student profile using the link
below:
 Practicum Student Profile Link