Extern Program
This program offers the opportunity for a 4th-year undergraduate student to receive academic credit while employed in an architectural practice. The program specifies that a student engage full time for the entire semester in a professional architecture firm or a design practice with equivalent architectural pursuits. The place of employment must be located in an environment where students have an opportunity to broaden their understanding of new locale and human settlements, away from familiar hometowns or parental residences. Students will be paid by the architectural firm while employed during the semester of participation in the Extern Program. Externship students need to seek out firms which agree to provide a sufficient level of mentorship and direct them in their daily activities. Prospective extern students need to make clear to their mentors prior to the extern semester that their engagement should be mainly centered around the typical professional architectural tasks, such as schematic design, design development, permit and construction approval work, and construction, contract administration, client contact, and construction site visits.
Students are advised to maintain weekly documentation of their work to demonstrate comparable content of, ARCH 4015. Other course requirements such as Professional Practice or Independent Study can be fulfilled by taking advantage of the professional setting and the study of everyday practices. Other coursework may be arranged with permission of the 4+ 5 year program chair up to a maximum of 15 credit hours. Generally this option is only offered in the Fall Semester. It is not possible to obtain academic credit for part-time or summer employment.
All students participating in the Extern Program will need to fill out the SA+D Extern Program Form and submit it directly to Tamela Gallimore, 201 Cowgill Hall, or via e-mail file attachment to tamelap@vt.edu.
At the end of the semester each student will be asked to submit a self-assessment, including a short description of performed tasks structured by week, and a work portfolio [pdf] supporting the descriptions.
All documentation and together with a letter of evaluation by the employer, should be submitted to the 4/5 year program chair. Employers who prefer to send the letter via U.S. mail service should send to the attention of 4th year Extern Program, 201 Cowgill Hall, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061.