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MA in International Community Development

2017-2019Cohort Ten

Fieldwork & Thesis Project Guide

The College of Social and Behavioral SciencesNorthwest University

5520 108th Ave NEKirkland, WA 98033

425-889-5328

Northwest UniversityICD Fieldwork & Thesis Project Guide

Contents

INTRODUCTION 3

PROJECT MANAGEMENT, FUNDING, AND PROGRAM EVALUATION 6

FIELDWORK 6

THESIS PROJECT 11

APPENDICES 17

FIELDWORK PLAN PROPOSAL 18FIELDWORK GUIDELINES/EXPECTATIONS 20NORTHWEST UNIVERSITY, MAICD FIELDWORK HOURS RECORD 21EXTERNAL READER FEEDBACK FORM 22RESEARCH INTERVIEW RELEASE FORM 24FIELDWORK INTERVIEW TRACKING FORM 25ICD THESIS PROJECT PROPOSAL 26

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Introduction

At the heart of the ICD program is an emphasis on applied learning. As you progress through your course work, we want you always to be asking the question: "How can I use this knowledge to make a real difference in the world, now and in the future?"

Also central to the ICD ethos is the idea that, when it comes to community development, advocacy, leadership and the like, experiential learning is crucial. Therefore, not only does each semester of the ICD program feature a practicum course, with a focus on practical skills and experience, but the program also leads you to develop your own practical culminating thesis project.

The practicum classes focus on three core skill areas, and provide experience in the areas of project management, program evaluation, and fundraising/grant writing. Many students choose to apply these skills in their individual thesis projects. Meanwhile, beginning in your second semester, other courses with a strong emphasis on experiential learning will guide you through the process of developing a research-based thesis project. These include:

Research for Social Change in which you develop your research question/themes and plans

Fieldwork in which you immerse yourself in a qualitative fieldwork experience based on the research question/themes you have developed

Thesis I and II Practicum courses in which you write a culminating thesis project.

Both the practicum skills courses and the research/fieldwork/thesis track courses emphasize experiential learning. They provide the foundation of the ICD program, ensuring that you always have a setting in which to integrate and apply your coursework and learning, while at the same time adding a new dimension of praxis to them. These courses provide a context in which you will have opportunity to contemplate your own experiences and collaborate with your peer community on how to prepare for maximized influence in your context of service.

In addition, the practicum series and other experiential courses are intended to be a venue for community building, personal and academic support, and interaction with your thesis advisor.

While the order of the skill-focused practicum courses may vary, the primary experiential learning activities you will engage in through the MAICD program can be described as follows:

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Fall: Project Management Practicum. This semester, you will work on initiating and planning a project for an actual organization. You will also start considering your eventual practicum fieldwork site, and do some initial thinking about potential thesis topics.

Spring: Program Evaluation Practicum, and Research for Social Change. Here you will learn the important skills of program evaluation, and will have the opportunity to test them for real-world organizational contexts. During this semester, you will also practice the skills of qualitative research, identify your practicum fieldwork site, and solidify possibilities for your thesis project topic.

Summer: Funding and Grant Writing Practicum, and Fieldwork. Next, you will be writing a grant for an organization and analyzing critical ways of ensuring funding for non-profit and other organizations focused on social good. During the second half of this semester, you will also complete your fieldwork.

Fall: Thesis Project I Practicum: In this course, you will synthesize your fieldwork and research in order to begin either a) a practical thesis project and a shorter accompanying thesis document, or b) a full academic thesis. During this semester you will write sections of your thesis, and complete (if applicable) your practical thesis project.

Spring: Thesis Project II Practicum: In your final semester, you will complete your thesis, and will have the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of your thesis project subject by finalizing your research, creating your thesis, and defending it before an audience of your peers.

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This is a sample roadmap of the practicum semesters (subject to change):

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Project Management, Funding, and Program Evaluation

Project management, funding and grant-writing, and program evaluation skills are in high demand in the world of service organizations. The teaching you will receive on these subjects, added to the hands-on experience working on a project with potential real-world results, will add crucial capacities to your skill set and enormous value to your resume.

Individually or in teams, you will plan and conduct projects for actual organizations. In many cases, the organizations will have a role in defining the objectives, or stated outcomes.

During the first semester, you will initiate and plan a project management-type project for an actual organization, packaging up the results into a deliverable that provides the expected value to your project sponsor and which could – if desired by the organization – be implemented. During the second semester, you will design a grant and complete other financial projects for an organization of your choosing. During the third semester, you will engage in program evaluation tasks for a different sponsoring organization, and present your results in the same semester.

To the extent possible, organizational sponsors will provide evaluations of your work.

Fieldwork

The fieldwork site is the context where you will carry out 80 hours of individual field research for your thesis, primarily through qualitative methods. The site is the physical location you will be in (i.e., southern Liberia, or Federal Way, Washington). However you will almost always be operating in the context of a specific organization as well (i.e., Living Hope Orphanage of Kampala, or World Vision), so that organization constitutes a key element of the site as well. The general guidelines for an appropriate site are these:

It must provide an opportunity to learn about a specific type of service/social change activity

It must grant you access to 10-15 consultants in your research focus, each of whom you will interview at least once

It should provide an opportunity to learn more about a culture not your own.

However, if you are already involved in context of cross-cultural service, you may opt to undertake a thesis project that addresses a need in that context.

Above all, you’ll want to consider a site that fits with your general goals and interests. In other words, be sure to choose a site that will help you to explore something you really care about, and which will help you to become better equipped

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to do the sort of work you are called to do. However you shape the thesis project, it should provide opportunities for you to engage with people who know what you need to know – the “consultants” referred to above. Ideally these would be people who actually do the sort of work you are looking into, and/or those who are integrally involved in the social context/community you are researching. Stay open to anyone with “local knowledge” of the context – anyone who can help you learn and think creatively about the research problem you are grappling with.

When possible, choose a site at which you can make a contribution, either through research or general volunteer work. You may consider writing your program thesis, for example, in such a way that the data you compile and/or the conclusions you draw from your research might actually aid a specific organization in its work. (Ask the organization in advance about this.) Or, you might simply volunteer your time/work in a way not directly tied to your observations and site research; the volunteer work simply gives you a role to play while you are making your observations. Or again, you may opt to make a new contribution to the organization you already work for.

While it might be ideal to find that perfect site that will integrate all your interests, there are other factors to consider, such as:

Practicality: What can you reasonably do, given your life circumstances (i.e., full-time school, job, family, etc.)?

Affordability: While international travel might be your ideal, it may simply be too costly given your financial situation as a graduate student.

The main idea in the practicum is learning through participant observation: that is, direct experience, observation, and interviews. So as long as you find a fieldwork context that is interesting, AND proves to be something you can do given the realities of your life, you’ve got a perfectly suitable fieldwork site.

You will need to be proactive about finding this site. Some ideas regarding where and how to look:

Network, network, network. Ask everyone you know. And ask them to be on the lookout too for possible contacts.

Talk to fellow students; they may well be able to find opportunities in the organizations where they are doing their own projects.

Look close to home: Consider your local church, school, community center, or local government office.

And of course, work closely with your thesis advisor.

The ICD program does have a list of sites that could provide opportunities. You are free, however, to find a site on your own. In any event, you are responsible for

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making the contact with the organizations that interest you, and establishing the terms of your research and service.

Timeframe for Fieldwork Research Experience: The ICD program schedule is set up on the assumption that most students will complete their 80 hours of fieldwork experience in an intensive time frame, usually in summer. The Fieldwork course is ideally taken in conjunction with your actual fieldwork. This is NOT the only option, however.

You also have the option of accumulating the 80 hours of fieldwork over the course of two semesters. You could begin this process as early as the middle of semester two. You must however have your hours completed by the end of semester four (summer), in your Fieldwork course, since it is in the following semester that you will begin compiling research data and creating your program thesis project.

As you consider the approach you will take to fulfilling field research hours, remember that you may count only those hours when you are actively observing or participating in the field context. The time spent in plane travel or sleeping, for examples, cannot be counted.

The Fieldwork Plan: The Fieldwork Plan is a one to three page summary of facts that describe your proposed site and the activities you will carry out there. It includes all the details of the site including the names of the site contact(s) who will oversee your work, as well as substantial information about the history, philosophy, and affiliations of your chosen organization. (Please use the cover page attached.)

Most importantly, it includes a description of the particular research question or set of questions you will be exploring through field research. These will be drawn directly from your thesis project objectives, since the fieldwork and thesis project are inextricably linked. Your research must be focused on a specific, limited problem to be solved or set of questions to be answered, such as:

How can the Linnert Foundation best match the values of corporate donors to specific development projects in the Amazon Basin? What innovative strategies does it use to link developed world resources with developing world needs? What unique approaches is the Foundation taking to engage human resources as well as financial resources?

How does Parker Elementary address the needs of children at risk? Why have indicators of student success been showing a consistent decrease in the past decade? In a context with a high incidence of poverty, what are the strategies that have been tried to encourage student success? Why has there been little success in engaging the broader community in efforts to alleviate the potential drawbacks of the socio-economic risk factors of that community?

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What would be a contextualized model for sustainable microenterprise that could operate alongside Calcutta Mercy Ministry’s new rural health clinics? What new experiments and innovations in community development should be taken into consideration for future clinics?

These questions will eventually need to lead into your thesis project, so you need to have that thesis in mind as you formulate your research questions. At the same time you will need to choose a field site that will likely yield the sort of data you need to make your case. Perhaps an organization is doing exemplary, cutting edge work that you want to analyze and highlight in your thesis. Or perhaps an organization is doing work in counterproductive ways, and your research will lead you to develop new and better approaches. All to say: Try to anticipate your thesis project goals even as you look for your site.

Do note that, while the field data must be integrated into the thesis, your thesis may or may not be focused on the organization/site. You may opt for such a case study approach, or you may choose a more general topic that simply draws on your field data for supporting material and examples.

Please note well: The Fieldwork Plan must be submitted and approved by BOTH your site supervisor AND your program advisor before you can proceed with the implementation of the plan. Please obtain the site supervisor signature first before giving the form to your advisor.

The Site Journal, Site Report, and Record of Hours: In Practicum IV, you will be asked to submit a report that summarizes the fieldwork experience, including a recap of the data gathered and an initial estimation of research conclusions. You will be asked as well for some subjective “processing” of the experience on a personal level. To this end you will be required to take extensive field notes the essence of your research and observations), as well as keep a regular personal journal throughout the fieldwork timeframe.

Along with the site report you will be asked to submit a detailed record of your fieldwork hours. A form for this is provided within this guide; however, you are free to create your own form. Note that you CAN count the hours you spend in recording/compiling research data, and in contributing to your field journal.

Your field notes may take any form that is useful to you. Your program advisor may ask to see/hear them at the end of the field experience, so make sure they are in a form that allows such access. Field data includes written/print notes, transcripts, audio recordings, video, photographs, drawings, and collected artifacts among other things. So be creative in how you gather data.

Note that one component that is required in your field notes will be interview notes OR transcriptions from your 10-15 required expert interviews. You will

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need these notes because they will become valuable sources to integrate into your thesis project. Note too that you don’t have to wait until semester three to carry out these interviews. You may begin scheduling your interviews as soon as you have your research question(s) in place.

During your fieldwork you may also be asked to share your experience through mini reports, notes, and photos on a blog that you create, or in other creative venues, and to respond to the posts of your peers – connecting their experiences to your own, and offering insights into their work.

Site Supervisor Role: For the fieldwork experience you must identify one person who will serve as your site supervisor. This person serves as the primary (or one of the primary) contacts for your engagement with the fieldwork activities. Usually this will be a person who serves in the main organization with which you are involved. If you are not working under the auspices of one specific organization, the site supervisor is the person who helps you to coordinate the diverse aspects of your field experience.

The site supervisor can be as involved as you want them to be – or more to the point, as involved as he/she wants to be! But the minimum functions of the supervisor role are these:

o Help the student to define the components of the field experience, including any service work.

o Provide occasional advice/guidance as needed during the fieldwork period.

o Serve as the main contact for the fieldwork site (if an organization is involved), or help the student coordinate various fieldwork experiences (if multiple sites are involved).

o Provide authorizing signatures for the student’s project proposal, and sign the report of fieldwork hours.

So you can see that the supervisor role can be minimal. In great part, how you shape the experience, and what you draw from it, is up to you and not those who oversee you.

However, do be aware that there is great value in learning from the experience of those in the field. So if you have opportunity to solicit more input from your site supervisor in the form of regular advice, vocational counsel, or even guidance on your eventual thesis work, it would be well worth pursuing a quasi-mentoring relationship with your site supervisor as far as that is possible. Again, this is advisable but not required; quite often people who are engaged in works of service are hard pressed to offer more than basic supervision, and this is just fine.

In any case, you will want to provide your site supervisor with clear information about their role. At the same time, you must solicit their expectations of you – and this is something you would be wise to put in writing.

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To this end, there is a form provided in the Fieldwork and Thesis Project Guide. This form should be filled out by the student and the supervisor; the student then makes copies – one for the supervisor, one for the program director, and one to keep for his/her own records.

Thesis ProjectIn Practicum I, you will be introduced to the requirements of the program’s thesis project. Generally speaking (and for most students), this will constitute a research-based, MLA-formatted document by which you develop and support a specific thesis idea. As noted, in all cases the thesis project must integrate the field research described above. In particular, you are required to integrate and cite (by name and date) knowledge gained from at least five of the personal interviews you did as part of your fieldwork. In addition, you must refer in the thesis to general insights and observations gained from your practicum field experience.

Please note that the thesis project requirement may be met through alternative forms. If you plan to go on to doctoral work, a conventionally crafted thesis is a good thing to have in hand. However, you might also choose to convey your research results and experience through a different medium: You might for example create a video, a photo essay, or even a performance; some students have even started nonprofit organizations and socially entrepreneurial businesses. In any case, you’ll need to invest the same energy and academic research in putting together a finely crafted “product” as you would into a written thesis. See the guidelines below.

Guidelines for the MA Thesis Options: The thesis project is intended to give you an experience of focused, extensive research and problem-solving. It is also meant to help you become an expert (or “master” if you will), in a particular subject germane to the ICD program foci. The thesis project should reflect that level of mastery. Finally, it offers an opportunity for integration and application of various course concepts and texts from the whole ICD program experience.

There are two main options for the thesis project:

Traditional Thesis: The thesis is a research-based document that is comprised of 40-60 pages of text (including the title page, table of contents, and Works Cited, but not including any appendices). In it you make a contention (thesis statement) about some new approach, idea, methodology, strategy, etc. for addressing a community-development related need. All ICD thesis documents must have a practical orientation – a “so what” factor that clearly links ideas and ideals to actual practice in context. This is accomplished through BOTH text-based research AND qualitative research processes (primarily interviewing and field observation).

Thesis Project: The thesis project is comprised of two parts: A practical project with real-world application to a specific context, or one that meets a

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specific need, paired with a research-based document comprised of 20-40 pages of text (including the title page, table of contents and Works Cited, but not including any appendices). The practical project may or may not be a document (see examples below), but if it is there is no set page requirement; the form should suit the need. The research document component provides the rationale and theoretical/academic underpinning for the project component.

There is no single set of guidelines for content and structure for either option; form must serve the content and purpose of the thesis itself. However, you should follow general guidelines for good essay structure (see Hacker). It will also be useful to look at past thesis examples to see how others have structured their work.

In most cases, the thesis topic is tied to the student’s summer fieldwork experience. You will be asked to form some general thesis question options in advance of your fieldwork, and urged to form your actual thesis statement shortly afterwards. You are also required to conduct the required fieldwork interviews with the thesis in mind, so that these interviews become resources that are later cited in the thesis.

In all cases, you must secure an “external reader” for your thesis, one who knows the chosen thesis topic well. Ideally this person will serve as a mentor at best, or a consultant at least, to help guide your research and writing. They will read the final draft of the thesis and offer written feedback as part of the evaluative process. This role is NOT to be confused with that of an editor or proofreader. You will need those sorts of helpers to be sure, but the role of the external reader is to act as a sounding board for ideas, a general consultant in the research process, and a reader of the final draft. This person may also serve as your site supervisor, but the roles are not necessarily the same.

Some important points to remember about the thesis: By convention, all thesis projects are made available to the public via the

Northwest University library website. You must always research and write your thesis with attention to the

question, "What difference do my ideas make in the real world?” A core ICD value, remember, is: The best sort of knowledge is that which makes a difference in people’s lives. Thus, ICD theses should never be ONLY about ideas or ideals, or about abstract, esoteric matters. They must therefore be tied to particular people, places, needs and challenges.

Incorporate data obtained through your own qualitative research (participation, interviews and observations).

Integrate references to lessons learned and texts read throughout the ICD program (since the thesis project is an integrative document). Incorporate a minimum of 10-12 program sources (for either type of thesis).

Aim for at least 40 text references for a traditional thesis, or 25 for the shorter thesis/academic rationale accompanying a practical thesis project.

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Seek to create “new knowledge”—that is, offer a perspective or solution that is unique and which contributes something to the broader field.

Always have in mind the option of publishing something out of your thesis, and be making note of possible publishing venues even as you carry out your research.

Utilize elements of the literature reviews done in prior courses. (This is usually done by adapting relevant components of the reviews to support various points you make throughout the thesis. Unless it is absolutely necessary to your structure, avoid inserting a separate Literature Review section in your thesis.)

Turn in the External Reader Feedback form with the final draft of the thesis (you’ll find this in the appendix of the Guide).

Be reminded that the ICD thesis project guidelines allow you to adapt and incorporate sections of papers previously written for program courses. You simply need to note his on the thesis project cover page: “Some material included in this thesis project was previously submitted to meet the requirements for the ICD courses [list them here]”. You must list these courses specifically, in order to avoid any appearance of plagiarism.

Case Examples: The best way to understand what a thesis looks like is to observe what has been successfully submitted in the past. Below you will find summaries of several typical thesis submissions. (You may opt to read any of them in full; just ask the program Chair.)

Thesis: In his research, a student asked the question: “How can services for the disabled in a Nigerian context be made more accessible and effective through cultural contextualization?” This question emerged out of his experiences working with the disabled in Nigeria. His thesis explained the issues there, explored multiple causative factors for the problems the disabled face, and proposed a number of guiding principles for service providers to expand and improve services offered. He opted for a traditional thesis format, and his thesis statement made the case for new approaches to the problem. His actual thesis statement: “In order to increase access to services for the disabled in Nigeria, it is necessary to both work to change cultural biases, and to utilize indigenous, context-relevant resources that already exist in Nigerian society.” In this case, the student used his thesis to propose public re-education programs about the rights and personhood of the disabled, and the creation of schools for disabled kids that would create jobs and contribute to the local economy (among other things). His traditional thesis, based in the values of copowerment and contextualization, argued for a general approach/strategy to a specific social problem in a specific national context. At the same time, he made the case that a similar approach might offer possibilities for other similar contexts.

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Note that this student did not include the question in his thesis document. The research question(s) must always lead to a thesis statement. The thesis statement is the answer to the research questions, and the questions themselves are only a means to an end in the process of preparing to write.

Note too that the student didn't write an overly general or abstract thesis. He could have made a case such as: "Disabled people should have more equal rights in the world," or "In Liberia, certain core cultural beliefs work against the just and humane treatment of disabled people." Those are important points, and in fact they are important points develop as part of this particular thesis example. However, he made sure that his thesis ideas were grounded in a particular, real-world context of application.

Could this student have opted for a thesis project over a traditional thesis? Yes indeed. (See the related example below.) Perhaps he might have designed a public education program, or even two - one for a rural context and one for an urban context. He would then have written a shorter thesis, perhaps with a narrower scope - one that developed the ideas and values that were the foundation of his project. And because the project in this case would be so tied to the particularities of a place and people, he would be free (if he wanted), to make a more general case, such as "In any endeavor to improve the lives of the disabled in the developing world, it is critically important to understand culture context factors that both help and hinder such efforts."

Thesis Project: For her fieldwork, a student designed a “kids with cameras” project for a city in Turkey, one that taught photography skills to disabled children and helped them to gain a “voice” in a culture that otherwise sought to ignore them. In the process of her fieldwork, she came to understand the broader need for such projects in various contexts of human need. And so for her thesis project she created a nonprofit agency to promote social justice photography projects around the world. For the program requirements she submitted both a book of photographs from her project and the business proposal for the nonprofit.

In the accompanying academic thesis document then, she developed the values, methodologies, and rationale that informed her project. The thesis statement: “In Turkish society, disabled people are hidden away due to deep cultural beliefs that make them a source of shame to their families. It is possible to change the perceptions of the disabled through programs that promote their social visibility, and foster engagement and interaction with members of mainstream society.”

Thesis Project: A student traveled to several places in Africa to observe orphan care; while there he realized that biometric and developmental data

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were being gathered in a haphazard and inefficient way. Based on interviews and observations there and further research in the US, he developed a cheap, efficient, field-based system of data gathering that utilized smart phones and the internet. Out of this, he then developed a business plan and started a company to offer these services to organizations with similar needs. He submitted the business plan as the project, accompanied by a document explaining the need he sought to meet, and the values and theory that informed his strategy for meeting it.

This accompanying thesis document defended his contention that service providers need to do a better job of evaluating and demonstrating the impact of their program efforts, both for the sake of efficient and effective use of resources, and for the sake of keeping the donor base educated and informed. He then pointed to his project as a case example of how such understanding might be applied in practice.

Thesis: A student sought to pair her passion for environmental justice with her concern for disaster relief. In Haiti and India, she took note of the fact that disaster relief organizations – in their efforts to meet needs quickly and efficiently – were actually creating environmental problems unthinkingly through their methods. In her research she asked the questions: “What IS the problem [since most disaster relief organizations were not aware of the problem], and what can be done to alleviate it? The thesis statement for her traditional thesis: “Relief organizations should increase their awareness of environmental issues in their contexts of service so that they do not end up causing problems even as they seek to solve them. Specifically, such organizations should work to integrate creation-care values into their organizational culture, to implement zero or low-waste relief strategies, and to increase post-intervention evaluation processes to remediate any negative environmental impact.

This was a traditional thesis, but could she have opted to do a project? Absolutely. She might well have written a smaller version of the thesis above, and then for the project part, created something practical and doable for an actual context. Perhaps she could have devised a four-part, two-year program for a relief agency in Haiti, by which they could integrate creation care values into their organizational culture, and evaluate and redevelop their existing relief work methodologies. Or she might have designed a post relief project evaluation process for the same organization. Whatever she does, the project would need to be intended for a specific context for implementation, even if the project could benefit other organizations in similar contexts with similar challenges.

Thesis Defense: Every student will have a chance to present their thesis to an audience of their peers, instructors, and any invited guests. Students are asked to

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summarize their research and conclusions in a strictly-bounded, 10-15 minute time frame. They then field questions about their work from the audience and their thesis evaluators for an additional 10 minutes. The presentation must be accompanied by PowerPoint or Prezi slides, but may use additional audiovisual aids as needed. You should plan to practice the “final form” of your defense presentation in the week prior to the actual defense date. On campus students should take advantage of the opportunity to present in front of their thesis writing group in person. For on campus students, the defense will take place before the end of the last semester, so that you will have time to make any requested revisions after the defense; for online students, the defense will take place after these revisions have been requested and resubmitted. Please note: You should plan on the fact that you will have revisions, some minor, but some possibly substantial. This is normal for the thesis creation process. Normally you will have 1-3 weeks to make these changes, depending on how extensive they need to be.

Thesis Project Publication: As you formulate your thesis ideas, you would do well to consider a venue through which you might share your research and conclusions. Any sort of “publication,” including conference presentations, goes a long way toward building your career portfolio. So early on in the second semester, scout out relevant journals, conferences, and such that could be potential venues for this. In some cases you may want to contact the editors/organizers in advance to gauge the feasibility of publishing with them, and to find out about specific requirements for that venue.

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Appendices

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Fieldwork Plan ProposalPlease complete this form and attach it as a cover page to the Fieldwork Plan.

Student Name________________________________________________________________________________

Phone__________________________________________ Email________________________________________

Proposed Placement:

Location_______________________________________________________________________________________

Organization__________________________________________________________________________________

Organization Address________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Key contact person(s) at site who will supervise/approve your work:

Name and title________________________________________________________________________________

Phone__________________________________________ Email________________________________________

Proposed Project (pose as a 1-3 sentence thesis statement that includes main contention and key supportive points):

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Signatures:

Student ___________________________________________________Date_______________________________

*Site Contact_______________________________________________Date_____________________________

Advisor, ICD____________________________________________ Date______________________________

*If supervisor is unavailable to provide a signature, attach an email from him/her indicating agreement with plan.

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To the Fieldwork Site Supervisor:

Thank you for being willing to provide accountability and guidance to this student. Please know that your investment will help shape a critical component of the student’s formation as a future agent of justice and social change.

In the Masters of Arts in International Community Development program, the role of the Fieldwork Site Supervisor is defined by the following responsibilities:

o Help the student to define the components of the field experience, including any service work.

o Provide occasional advice/guidance as needed during the fieldwork period.

o Serve as the main contact for the fieldwork site (if an organization is involved), or help the student coordinate various fieldwork experiences (if multiple sites are involved).

o Provide authorizing signatures for the student’s project proposal, and sign the report of fieldwork hours.

Any further investment on your part is optional. Please know that the student bears primary responsibility for making the fieldwork experience a valuable one, and for integrating that experience into the larger framework of the program.

The student has been advised to discuss and record any expectations you might have for them as part of the fieldwork experience. This could include frequency of contact, conduct in the field, service responsibilities, or even confidentiality parameters. If there are such terms to be clarified, these can be recorded on the following page (and copies of those terms will then be provided to both you and the ICD program director).

Thank you again for your willingness to be part of this student’s learning process.

Dr. Forrest InsleeChair, MAICD ProgramNorthwest [email protected] 425-889-7809

PLEASE NOTE: If you have any questions or comments about the student, the fieldwork, or the MAICD program, do not hesitate to contact me at the email address or phone number above.

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mailto:[email protected]


Fieldwork Guidelines/ExpectationsNorthwest University, MA in International Community Development

Student ______________________________________________________________________________________(print)

Supervisor __________________________________________________________________________________(print)

Organization (if applicable)______________________________________________________________

The site supervisor and student agree to the following items:

Signature, Site Supervisor_________________________________________________Date__________

Signature, Student__________________________________________________________Date__________

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Northwest University, MAICD Fieldwork Hours Record

Name ________________________________________________________ Semester____________________

Supervisor Signature______________________________________________________________________

Date Est. hrs.

Brief description of activity

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External Reader Feedback Form

For the student: A copy of this form must be turned in, completed, when you submit the final draft to the course instructor.

For the reader: Please return the hardcopy of this form to the student. If you would rather not use the hardcopy, please feel free to send the answers to these questions via email to the student.

Please return the hardcopy of this form to the student. If you would rather not use the hardcopy, please feel free to send the answers to these questions via email to [email protected], with a copy to the student.

Thank you for being willing to offer perspective on the content of a thesis project draft. The time you spend is an investment in the future of this ICD student. Please offer any feedback you can to the student on this form, but certainly in the draft document as well if you think that would be helpful. Please note that you are being asked primarily for an evaluation of content, rather than proofreading or style/format editing. If you have any questions about the program and the place of this thesis project in it, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Dr. Forrest Inslee, ChairNorthwest University MA in International Community Development

Please take a moment to comment in the following evaluative categories:(Please make suggestions as needed, and use an additional page if necessary.)

Does this thesis deal with a relevant and timely topic in its field? Please explain.

Does the student display a familiarity with the key resources in the field that could inform the thesis perspective? Please comment.

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Is the quality of writing appropriate to a graduate level? (Note that you are reading a draft, but the writing issues even at this stage ought not to be distracting from content.)

Is the student persuasive and compelling in terms of how the thesis case is built or the argument is developed? Why or why not?

What if any general improvements would you suggest the student make? (Again, you can make summary comments here, while offering detailed suggestions in the thesis draft document itself.)

Your name ______________________________________________________________________________

Position (if relevant) ___________________________________________________________________

Thesis author’s name __________________________________________________________________

Signature ____________________________________________ Date _____________________________

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Research Interview Release Form

Purpose of study: (1-2 sentence summary of general purpose)

Process: (1-2 sentences describing nature of interview questions and method of delivery)

- I authorize that use of information from this interview can be used for

quotation and publication as part of scholarly work, community work, and

education.

- I agree that no compensation will be received for this interview and/or

subsequent work resulting from it.

- I understand that I may limit or omit any portion of this interview by request.

- I hereby recognize the nature of this academic study, and assign any and all

rights of this recording, video, transcript, and photography of this research

interview for educational purposes to the researcher and his/her work at

Northwest University.

Interviewee Date

Researcher Date

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Fieldwork Interview Tracking Form

Name Position Organization Date Purpose

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ICD Thesis Project Proposal

This proposal requires that you create a general purpose, plan and structure for the thesis you will soon begin to write in earnest. The proposal serves two functions: First, it will help you to create specific goals and parameters to start working toward right away. Second, it will serve to communicate and commit to your intentions with your instructor. Please take time to develop the following in a separate, clearly written and carefully formatted document:

Working thesis statement (1-2 sentences)

A draft of an introductory paragraph (a persuasive and engaging paragraph that incorporates the thesis statement above, plus the “roadmap” or main points of your thesis project. (And here also you must signal whether you are doing a traditional thesis or a thesis project. See the Fieldwork and Thesis Guide.)

An outline of the thesis project content that conveys as much detail as possible (the documents projected main points, and at least one level of sub points below these).

A running Works Cited list of all sources (that you know of so far) that you intend to cite in the thesis project. These must be listed in proper MLA format. You will be asked to submit this document via Discovery. Your instructor will either approve the proposal as it is, or send it back for revision.

Note that this document should be as accurate as possible in terms of serving as a map for the thesis writing process. While you will undoubtedly change aspects of it as you write in the coming months, you should take the time to think carefully and deeply about the general intent and structure now. The clearer you can be at this early stage about your intentions and content goals, the easier it will be to write each component piece as you move forward. In other words, as much as it is possible, craft your thesis outline carefully and thoughtfully, and then commit to it.

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