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Expectations of Students

The model of this course is a job in "the real world" after graduation, where your team represents a contracted project for a client. If you are working at Hornsby Bend (CER), then your client is the City of Austin and your official contact person is Kevin Anderson, the director of the CER. Your project is planned, and approved, by him, and changes need to be negotiated with him. He requires a written report (the team web site) and a copy of your data must be given to him as "hard copy" at the end of the project. There are formal communication and reporting requirements to him that are mandated by US Homeland Security regulations imposed on the City of Austin. You must adhere to these as required. If you are working on a project elsewhere, a realistic context must become part of your team project plan.

If you are working at another site, the team leader will be responsible to have permission to be on access-controlled locations, and have contact procedures for any team member if permission, reporting, or other requirements obtain. In all cases, individual safety is a primary consideration for team leaders and individuals on the team. Be sure there is a clear understanding of notification, emergency procedures, and special local requirements.

This class has a 4 hour credit (3 hour for graduate students).  Typically, after the first 2-4 weeks the class meets once a week. Remaining credit is for the field or lab requirements. Preparation and assignments require additional time. Study and homework is generally estimated to be about 3 hours per credit hour, or about 12 hours a week. Building your team web is one of these homework/study requirements, and maintaining your LRO is an additional one. Graduate student expectations are similar, but as team leaders, you have an hour a week for meetings of leaders (similar to an executive council). Team leaders are required to attend, and team members may attend if they wish.

The class credit hours translate into actual "work hours" in approximately the following ways:

• Class = 6 hours/wk (lower after projects begin)
   

• Field/lab = 6-9 hours/wk (lower as class approaches the end of semester)
   

• Preparation/assignments = 12 hours/wk (more as class nears completion)
   

• Total class time = 20-24 hours/wk
  (the actual time varies, depending on the requirements and management skills to move your project along the time line)

Classes are designed to introduce concepts and techniques, and to review progress. One of the most important habits that you must learn for "real world" work is accountability for your time and work. Each week you must enter into your team "time sheet":

• What you have done,
   

• When you did it,
   

• How it related to your team responsibilities,
   

• Description of your contribution to moving the project along the project time line, and
   

• Note deficiencies or surprises that will be discussed in your team meetings, and will be part of the minutes of these meetings. You will learn that these meetings are one of the most important characteristics of an effective team (including a marriage), and this procedure is a characteristic of any effective collaboration you have in the future.

Keep your team coordinator (Principle Investigator) informed about scheduling variations that you need and enter these become part of the team "work schedule" for the week. It is each team member's  responsibility to keep their team PI informed about schedule changes so the work needs for your project can be met. Timely and accurate communication is essential. The time keeping and activity record will help document that you are learning to function responsibly in a team. These procedures are part of professionals working on contract jobs, and it will give you a sense of "real world" expectations of professional managers. (Lawyers and consultants often account and charge for their time and work activities in 10 minute intervals.)

After about two weeks, you will meet one class a week as a team group (sometimes including your instructor, TA, or client). The remainder will be associated with your team working at your project site, or elsewhere as appropriate. This means that the typical week will require you to spend around 20 hours on class activities. However, you will need to meter your time and focus your activities to do this, and I recommend that you explicitly plan 15 hours a week and have "flex time" for the remainder. The final determination of individual work schedules will be that you "do what it takes" to get your job done well.

Your field and lab work will be monitored and you will be evaluating your own work each week. A work plan and schedule must be developed to coordinate schedules of all individuals involved, including instructor(s). As a team, each of you is responsible to plan, coordinate with your team partners, and maintain a record of activities and evaluate the results. These records are part of your team's record, and the team, individually and as a whole, is responsible for assuring accuracy and completeness of this record.

We will arrange the formal time for everyone on a team to meet together at least once a week. This time and location may be modified as necessary to allow everyone to attend. It is essential that you be present; emergency interference must be documented or prior permission of your team leader must be obtained. This meeting time may be in the evening so that it does not conflict with field work. In Texas, the weather often can be disagreeable. You probably need to plan your field work accordingly, and indoor lab work otherwise. Note the following basic principles of safe and effective field work, all of which you are expected to maintain:

  After the class begins, each meeting in the classroom will include a brief progress update by a member of each each team. These presentations are relatively brief and report the things you observed and what you learned about field techniques during the past week. You will will learn from reports of others in the class, and expand the implications of your own observations. These meetings are required unless you have specific approval for an alternative mode of reporting. In some cases this will be by posting your observations and interpretations on the class listserv. Whether reported in class or not, you are encouraged to discuss what you are learning on this listserv. Your presentations, and those you hear from others increase everyone's awareness of what you are learning and the implications of your project. These postings and the ideas they generate are components of what you record in your LRO. You may record other observations and include photographs as appropriate in both your project activity log and your LRO.

Each team will construct a web site that is the documentation of what you do, and this must be completed by April 30. (This record documents what you do, along with your individual learning observations recorded in your LRO). Your class grade will not be reported until this web site is completed and approved, and you have completed your Self Evaluation as part of your LRO. Report and illustrate what you accomplish on the last class (or when scheduled). The last week or two of the class will focus on the class meetings for comparing results from each team, summarizing the implications that you discover regarding the questions and techniques that work well together, and why other techniques are/were less appropriate. Also, during this time, you will summarize your understanding from your project in a more generalized way as a naturalist and project coordinator/member might do. Many discussions through the class and field exercises will present observations, problems, management processes, expected results, and numerous other things for you to ponder during the class. We encourage you to use your ability to step back and integrate the implications of your field activities with your observations about your site and other sites. You will summarize what you have learned in your Self Evaluation, which becomes the basis of your grade. Plan to finish this by April 30^th. This, with the associated documentation, is an important resource for me if I prepare any recommendations for you in the future (job applications, graduate school applications, award applications, etc.)

No grade will be awarded until your Learning Record, Self Evaluation and team web site are completed and approved for content and quality, including hard copy of your data to Kevin Anderson for work at Hornsby Bend. Do not procrastinate!