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IST337 allows students to earn academic credit by assisting an iSchool faculty member as an undergraduate student support person.  This opportunity is available in relation to a number of undergraduate courses.  Undergraduate Student Support assumes responsibility for some activity directly related to the conduct of the class, such as maintaining office hours, providing out-of-class assistance with course assignments, assisting with lab activities, or working as a consultant on team projects.  These experiences provide students with the ability to further develop their skills in a specific area, to develop their leadership skills, and to establish a close professional relationship with a faculty member.

To serve as a support practitioner, students must have earned a grade of B+ or higher in the course in which they wish to assist.  Interested students should contact the appropriate faculty member and complete the IST337 agreement.  Three signatures are required on the IST337 agreement: The prospective undergraduate student support student, the course instructor, and an academic counselor.  Training sessions are a required component of IST337.  At most, three credits of IST337 can be taken in any one semester.  Up to six (6) credits of IST337 can be counted toward fulfilling the major elective requirements of 15 credits but students may only be a support practitioner once for any particular course.

There are many benefits

to having an Undergraduate Student Support:

• You can develop deeper connections with our students
• You get a fresh set of eyes (from the student perspective) on your teaching material and receive feedback before you present to class
• An Undergraduate Student Support can test the weekly labs before the class completes them to fix any bugs or alert you of any confusion
• The Undergraduate Student Support learns the material in a whole new way, helping them gain a deeper understanding often leads to them pursuing more coursework in that subject area
• Someone can help you answer questions when all those hands go up in the labs
• Undergraduate Student Support can assist with organization of projects and office hours

If you are thinking about having undergraduate student support for a class this coming semester, please reference the information below to find out more information:

1. ANY instructor (full-time or adjunct) can utilize one of our Undergraduate Student Support positions. If it will enhance your class and the student’s classroom experience, we’re all for it. Therefore, think about what you would like an Undergraduate Student Support to do for you and how they would help enhance your class instruction. You can use the documents attached at the top of the page for ideas, and talk to other professors about how they leverage their Undergraduate Student Support (we are happy to recommend some regular Undergraduate Student Support-users to you).

   
   

2. The student must have successfully completed the course for which they want to be an undergraduate student support person for (regardless of the instructor who taught the course), whom you know you can trust to be responsible, and who has demonstrated proficiency in the work.  PLEASE NOTE: Students must have received a grade of B+ or better when they attended the course as a student. 

   If you need a recommendation of someone, just let the student services office know and we can pull rosters from former class sections.
   
   

3. The student must be able to attend six mandatory classes throughout the semester. These classes are held on Wednesday nights from 5:15 - 6:35pm.
   
   
4. Once you have a student who agrees to be an Undergraduate Student Support for your class, have a talk with the student about the structure of your class. Build out the expectations (very specifically) that you have for your Undergraduate Student Support and amend the IST337 Agreement to match your goals. Make sure to go through your syllabus in detail with your new Undergraduate Student Support and let them ask questions to be sure that you’re both on the same page with how the semester will run. Both of you should sign the IST337 Agreement paperwork in the necessary spaces.
   
   
5. Send your student to Jeff Fouts in student services, Hinds Hall 114, with all the paperwork. He will keep a copy for his records and you should keep a copy for yourself for review. The only way your student receives credit for the work they are doing is if they bring in the paperwork so they can get enrolled in the IST337: iSchool Support Practicum course. The paperwork should be submitted no more than TWO WEEKS BEFORE the start of classes. Paperwork should include the IST337 agreement/form (included at the top of the page).
   
   
6. Once the paperwork is received by Jeff Fouts, the student will then be able to register for the course. They WILL NOT be able to register for IST337 until all paperwork has been received.
   
   
7. Students must register for IST337 prior to the add deadline

PLEASE NOTE: Students may not count IST337 in the IM&T or Data Science Minors

We are happy to enhance your teaching experience by providing you the ability to have an Undergraduate Student Support for your class. Hosting an Undergraduate Student Support is often really rewarding and the student finds the experience extremely beneficial as they get to connect further with a professor, have a deeper understanding of material and develop the people skills that come with serving others.