Dickinson Semester in Washington Independent Study Project (ISP)

Operated in partnership with The Washington Center
for Internships and Academic Seminars

NOTE 1: While all three grades you earn during The Washington Center program are reported on your transcript (TWC seminar, TWC internship, and Dickinson College Independent Study), the grade you earn on the Independent Study is the only grade that will be calculated in your GPA. See: http://www.dickinson.edu/departments/twc/creditgrade.html

NOTE 2: "Professionalism" will count significantly in your Independent Study grade. Key components of professionalism include:

        • The degree to which you maintain good, regular, quality contact with me via emailed journals;

        • The degree to which you respond to queries and requests for clarification and elaboration;

        • The preparation you exhibit for the meeting we have when I visit you on site;

        • The degree to which you maintain (and report to me) steady progress toward the independent study, and;

        • The timeliness you exhibit when turning in requested work products (especially the final product).

j. hoefler 12.12.04

Weekly journal submitted via email:

You will be submitting journal entries about your internship experience to your TWC program supervisor on a regular basis. You should copy me on those entries, and add a personal post script to me each week that discusses what progress you have made on the independent study.

Topic selection (weeks 1-3):

You collaborate on with me on the topic of your independent study during the early weeks of your internship.

Talk with the folks at your internship site about the independent study to get the ball rolling. Pick their brains about the hot topics the office is dealing with, the special areas of expertise that exist within the staff, and the readily available printed records and materials you will have access to. Maybe you will find a special project that has been waiting for someone like you to come along. Whatever you propose, it has been my experience that projects which focus on a dimension of the work your office is already involved in will provide you with the most productive and rewarding independent study experiences.

Here are just three possibilities that your project could take. You may want to combine the elements of some of these alternatives, or head off in a slightly different direction. The choice is yours -- I will give as much feedback as I can once you begin to narrow in on a direction to take.

Comparative analysis: Compare two or more entities that are roughly equivalent. Be sure to explain why you can compare the entities you do, and what flaws there might be in this approach. Items of comparison might include:

• Countries (U.S. vs. Canada)
• U.S. states (PA, vs. NY vs. NJ)
• Government departments (Dept. of State vs. Dept. of Defense)
• Businesses (Microsoft vs. Apple)
• Populations (African American vs., Hispanics; young vs. old)
• Policies (pick two or more policies and analyze their comparative strengths and weaknesses)

Longitudinal analysis: Follow one policy, entity, or population through a specific time-period. This is especially useful when there is an identifiable "intervention" between the beginning and the end of your study. For example, PA used to require motorcyclists to wear helmets, and now they don't. Tracking the accident experiences of motorcyclists over time (seriousness of injury; rate of fatality) would help you begin to figure out what impact helmet use has on accident outcomes.

Case study: A case study is used to explore one particular entity or policy in great depth. It should cover the history of the subject matter in some detail.

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Building the project out (mid-semester):

Once you have settled on an approved project title, you should compose a brief synopsis and a rationale for why working on this particular topic will constitute a productive use of your time. You should also outline the project in detail, annotating the materials you plan to use (e.g., personal interviews, records, reports, and other data) along the way. Submit the synopsis and outline to me via email.

On-site visit (mid-semester):

I will pay you a visit sometime during the middle weeks of the semester, during which time you should be prepared to:

        • Brief me on the progress you have made on the independent study project, to date. Provide me with a one-page memo at that time to guide the discussion (see memo guidelines at  http://www.dickinson.edu/departments/law/policy/style.html#Memo);

        • Provide a short tour of your internship site (if this is not too disruptive to the operations of the office);

        • Set up a short meeting with you, me, and your site supervisor (this is not required -- we will do this only if your supervisor is interested and able to meet; the meeting could range from a simple introduction, to an informal chat of 15 minutes or so, depending on schedules);

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Project completion (closing weeks of the semester):

Your project should begin to shape up nicely in the closing weeks of the semester. Send a draft of the project as it begins to take shape, and have the final work product in to me by the first day of final exams here on campus.

Click here to check the academic calendar: http://www.dickinson.edu/departments/reg/

Debriefing (after TWC):

I normally like to meet with students for a personal debriefing of their projects (and the semester) before assigning a final grades for the independent study (if possible). For summer and fall internships, this can be done as soon as you get back on campus. For spring internships, this can be done before you head home for the summer (only if possible, of course).

Grading:

Your final grade for the independent study will be dependent on

• the quality of the final work product you turn in, and

• the degree to which you demonstrate professionalism and responsibility in maintaining close, personal, quality contact with me as the project and the semester unfold.

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