College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Catalog 2016

96 Practicum Practicum is not required in NSA but may be selected as part of Tracks III and IV or as an elective. The Department is available for assistance and advising regarding practicum. Practicum is taken as a class and students select a field site to work in during the same term as the class. Practicum I is offered in the Summer and Winter terms. Practicum advising sessions are offered residentially and online to help students plan. It is recommended that any interested students begin to explore potential practicum sites well in advance of the term they wish to take practicum. Practicum is both a course as well as a field experience. Students are responsible for documenting practicum hours, and must have these hours verified and signed by an on-site supervisor. The practicum experience is designed to provide students with an experiential opportunity to utilize theory and methodology within a diversity of professional settings. The Department will work with students to establish a placement suited to each student’s interests, if possible. The student must receive approval from both the Department and the agency on-site supervisor before beginning the required Practicum hours. The student is responsible for documenting Practicum hours and receiving supervisor approval. The practice component of the student's Practicum is evaluated by the on-site supervisor and this evaluation is combined with the classroom performance and course requirements and converted into a final overall grade by the professor teaching the course. Most if not all of the practicum sites of interest to NSA students require a background check/security clearance before the practicum placement can begin. This is at the student’s expense and should be done as soon as possible before the practicum term. Therefore NSA students interested in practicum should begin their planning well in advance. Examinations and Evaluations In addition to successfully completing all course work, students must pass a tabletop examination to be awarded the M.S. in National Security Affairs. When a student has completed all coursework, has maintained a minimum of 3.0 GPA with no "incomplete" grades, and is a "student in good standing" with no disciplinary actions pending or disciplinary tasks to complete, the student will be eligible to take the tabletop examination. The tabletop exam is an assessment of the student’s ability to integrate the knowledge and skills gained through course work. The exam tests the student’s written ability to critically analyze and apply conflict assessment, theory, and research methodology to hypothetical conflict situations. The exam also tests knowledge of material specific to the academic curriculum. The interactive online table-top exercise will assess the program outcomes. The table-top exercise will be scored like all major assignments in the program, using a rubric and assessing students’ competencies in regards to program outcomes. Students must receive a grade of 70% or higher to pass the tabletop exercise. The tabletop exercise is a graduation requirement. Students who score below 70% on this requirement must retake the tabletop exercise. The tabletop exercise can be taken a maximum of three times. Students who cannot pass it in three attempts will not graduate. Students must finish all coursework and pass the tabletop examination within 5 years. The tabletop exam is offered three times a year: in January, May and August/September. Faculty members are assigned to review the answers. Students are assigned an examination number. Thus, faculty members do not know whose answers they are reviewing. In order to fail a question, two faculty reviewers must award a failing grade.