Field Study

UAP 5964: Field Study

Where an internship (soon to known as UAP 5744: Planning Internship) involves student participation in the daily operations of a planning or related agency resulting in a journal of activities plus review of relevant planning literature, and where UAP 5974: Independent Study involves specialized scholarly studies usually resulting in a synthesis of literature, UAP 5974: Field Study combines elements of both usually leading to a tangible professional product useful to a client.

Field Study is Pass/Fail with variable credit hours from one to three during any given semester with a maximum of nine allowed toward the MURP degree. Each credit hour entails roughly 40 hours of work relevant to the client and the “deliverable.” The hours are in addition to any that may be paid (unlike the internship where the hours may be paid).

There is potentially a wide range of deliverables but all must be tangible and be of benefit for a client. Samples of deliverables include:

  • Professional reports
  • Applied policy analyses
  • Completion of applications for grants, special designations or status
  • Surveys
  • Inventories and assessments
  • Syntheses of reports or other works
  • Web site development or enhancement (but not management – that would be an internship function)

There is no predictable length or complexity of the deliverables only that the material in them should reasonably represent the credit hour weight.

The Field Study proposal must include the following elements:

  • Client: This can be public, private, non-profit or civic but it must be an organization.
  • Deliverable: This is the specific product to be developed for the client including generally its outline, length (if appropriate), and utility to the client.
  • Planning Relevance: This is a review of how the deliverable relates to planning or allied fields.
  • Method & Materials: This is a brief description of how the Field Study will be carried out and generally what data or materials may be used.
  • Client Role: This is a brief statement of the role of the client in directing or overseeing the work leading to the deliverable.
  • Time Frame/Credits: This is a preliminary schedule of major project milestones and the credit hours proposed.

Field studies should not extend over multiple semesters. If a project appears to need multiple semesters, it should be broken down into parts which would constitute the deliverable for each semester.

For additional information please email UAPAlexandria@vt.edu.

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