What to do

& when to do it

Attend First-Year Formation’s “Introduction to Contextual Education” Plenary

Each fall’s First-Year Formation class includes an “Introduction to Contextual Education” plenary workshop near the end of the term, which gives all first-year students (including January matriculants) an overview of the options available for fulfilling the ConEd requirement of the MDiv and MTS curriculum, as well as an overview of the site/project selection process.

Late November or Early December

Complete the Initial ConEd Meeting Request Form

Once you are ready to talk through your options with the ConEd Office, you will complete the Initial Meeting Request Form online, which includes an upload of your most recent resume or CV. Once our office receives this form, we will reach out to you to schedule a meeting (which can be over Zoom or in-person, depending on your preference). During this meeting we will discuss your ConEd learning goals, your future vocational plans, and offer insights into which of our partner sites might fit your interests.

February/March for Fall or Summer ConEd

September/October for Spring ConEd

Pursue an Option

Once you meet with our office, you’ll have a better sense of which ConEd option to pursue. If you are seeking an internship, you will review our STH Site Partner List to determine where you’d like to intern. If you are pursuing a ConEd Project, you will speak with an STH faculty member and begin to plan that project’s learning goals and tasks with them. If you are planning on Clinical Pastoral Education, you will complete that application process directly with a CPE site itself. If you are an MTS student, you may also choose to complete your ConEd requirement through an STH Travel Seminar and will need to follow those registration deadlines accordingly.

If you need suggestions of how to get started talking with a potential site supervisor or STH faculty project supervisor, please see these Initial Supervisor Conversation Talking Points

February through March 15th for Fall or Summer ConEd

September through October 15th for Spring ConEd

Confirm Your Plan with the Contextual Education Office

Once you have a ConEd plan in place (ex. you’ve been invited to an internship by a site supervisor, or completed a ConEd Project Description with an STH faculty member’s support, or been admitted into a CPE program or Travel Seminar), you will complete the ConEd Proposal Form. This form will outline your plan for our team to review. After reviewing your proposal, our office will either email you with questions/requesting clarification or provide an approval of your plan, copying the Registrar’s Office.

If you are pursuing an internship, you will need to also submit a Viewpoint Screening Background Check as part of completing the ConEd Proposal Form. This requirement is necessary regardless of a student’s degree program.

This background check practice is similar to the background checks required by most institutions in their hiring practices and by most churches in their ordination processes. A background check is only necessary once, before the start of a student’s first internship, and will be good for 2 years. It is meant to protect all parties, including you, in that it provides a record that there are no undisclosed issues from your past that preclude you from entering your site in a professional leadership capacity. To proceed with your background check, go to the Viewpoint Screening website: https://www.viewpointscreening.com/busth; click on “Start Your Order;” follow the online prompts.

The deadline for the ConEd Placement/Project Request Form is March 15th for Fall or Summer ConEd

And it is October 15th for Spring ConEd

Get Registered

All Contextual Education courses are “restricted” in terms of registration. This means that students cannot register themselves for those classes. Instead, the Contextual Education Office communicates to the Registrar’s Office at the start of each term which students have moved through the ConEd Proposal process and have been approved to register for a Contextual Education course. If you have not yet completed all the steps above, you will not be on the Contextual Education Office’s list of approved students.

Students completing first-level internships will be registered for TC 801 (fall) or TC 802 (spring). Students completing advanced internships will be registered for TC 803 (fall) or TC 804 (spring). And those pursuing ConEd Projects will be registered for TC 811.

Exceptions:

You do not need Contextual Education Office approval to register for Travel Seminars.

Students pursuing CPE will transfer in those units upon completion, meaning that they will not be registered for CPE through MyBU Student in the same way as a standard BU course. 

Work with the ConEd Office to make sure you are registered for the correct course by the start of the term in which you’re completing your Contextual Education

International Students — Apply for Curricular Practical Training Through ISSO

If you are an international student planning to do off-campus work as part of your ConEd internship or project, please follow this link to learn about Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorization and how to apply for it through the University’s International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO).

Begin the CPT process at least 6 weeks before the start of your internship term(s). International Students cannot begin any off-campus work without CPT authorization

Begin Your Contextual Education Internship or Project

Students who have completed their Background Check (& CPT authorization for international students) can begin their internship hours or project tasks as soon as the first day of classes each term, and should do so no later than the second week of classes. The best first step of any internship or project is to meet with your supervisor to make sure you are both aligned as to the work ahead, to negotiate the times to meet for supervision throughout the term, and to troubleshoot any questions either of you have. If you have a question your supervisor cannot answer, feel free to be in touch with the Contextual Education Office (sthope@bu.edu).

Between the first and tenth day of classes in the term

Develop Your Learning Agreement

Your first assignment is to outline the exact parameters of your internship tasks and learning objectives with your on-site supervisor. This is done by completing the Learning Agreement. Once you and your site supervisor have negotiated and signed the Learning Agreement, it should be turned in to your ITP Leader for review.

The Learning Agreement is a contract, and it must be signed by you, your site supervisor, and your theological supervisor (if a different person from your site supervisor), and your ITP Leader. Once you’ve gathered these signatures, you will submit your finalized Learning Agreement to your ITP Leader. They will then send it to the Contextual Education Office for review and final approval, where it will stay on-file.

Within the first few weeks of the term