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Clinical Experiences
The practicum provides for the inclusion of clinical experiences in all courses where appropriate. The design of courses provide for reflective discussion of clinical experiences to ensure the alignment of theory and practice for improved performance of students during the yearlong internship. The primary objective of clinical experiences is to link what is taught in the classroom with real-life situations in school administration, management, supervision and instructional leadership. Classroom theories and skills provide the focus for visitations and observations to schools, businesses, professional societal meetings; conferences, engagement on small-scale projects, and attendance at professional development programs and activities.
Enrichment Activities
Participation in planned enrichment activities at North Carolina A&T State University is one of the major cohort building experiences of the MSA program. All students are required to attend. Each year a schedule of activities is provided for each group of cohorts. These experiences are extended through opportunities to participate in professional development seminars and workshops that are provided by regional school districts, inter- and intra institutional seminars and other activities related to school administration and educational leadership. Students are expected to actively participate in the planning of university sponsored professional seminars and workshops. Other enrichment opportunities include site visits to school districts with exemplary programs, attendance and participation in business, and/or government seminars.
Support Services
In recognition of the need for sensitivity to the special needs of students and their families, the Master of School Administration Degree program offers a number of support services. One initiative is an orientation for students to introduce them to the university campus and programs. This orientation program acquaints students with the availability of housing, childcare through North Carolina A&T State University’s Early Childhood Development Center as well as orientation to the city of Greensboro and Guilford County.
University support services are available to each student admitted to the Master of School Administration Degree Program. Students are encouraged to maximize opportunities that are available through the Division of Student Affairs. Services include those of the Career Services and Placement Center, Cooperative Education Program, the Job Location and Development Program, the Counseling Center, student health services, and special services for the physically challenged.
Program Completion Timelines
Full-time students in the Master of School Administration Degree Program, which include Principal Fellows, are required to complete the program within a two-year period. Extended students are required to enroll for six (6) hours of study per semester over a two-year period followed by one summer and two semesters of full-time internship in the third year.
Neither full nor extended students can vary their program sequence by minimizing or maximizing the number of courses per semester. All prerequisites courses must be taken prior to enrolling in the internship.
The Internship
The internship occurs during the second year of the program for full-time students and during the third year for extended students. The full-time and part-time, three semester internship is designed to provide aspiring administrators with opportunities to apply the theoretical learning acquired in course work, to real-life situations in educational administration.
The internship development plan, action research project, clinical field experiences, reflective seminars, and enrichment activities are the core of the internship. These program components provide opportunities for aspiring administrators to participate, utilize, and observe leadership activities.
Activities common to each intern includes shadowing the site administrator (mentor), and attending reflective seminars on campus. Specifically, interns will: (a) observe the functions of administrators (b) assume leadership roles in planning, implementing, and evaluating educational leadership activities; (c) apply theoretical learning acquired in course work to the real world of practice; and (d) acquire essential knowledge and skills in educational leadership.
Interns will be responsible for successfully completing: (a) leadership self-assessment profiles: leadership development plan; (c) internship portfolio containing documented evidence of internship experiences and activities: (d) an action research project; (e) required participation in assigned mentoring cadres; and (f) a self-evaluation of the internship, the supervisors and the school site mentor.
The internship portfolio will include a log, of internship activities, a journal, arid an autobiography which documents the internship experiences and the performance standards that were met. These documents will assist the site-administrator, the university supervisor, and the intern in validating personality types, leadership styles, learning modalities, and communication styles.
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