Contextual Education – Getting Started as a Partner Site or Supervisor
Becoming a Contextual Education Partner Site and Supervisor
Site Partner Form
We are always excited when a new non-profit, religious community, or professional organization wants to partner with our office to assist in the training of future religious leaders! The process to be considered as a site partner begins by completing the Site Partner Form. Once we receive that completed form, our office administrator will reach out to schedule a Zoom meeting between one of our Contextual Office Directors and whomever from your institution would serve as the primary student supervisor. You are also welcome to bring anyone else to the Zoom meeting who might have questions about the Contextual Education program, its learning goals for students, the financial commitment, or any other aspect of becoming a partner site.
During that initial Zoom meeting, we will take some time to outline the basic goals of the Contextual Education program, including that it is a student-led learning environment. In other words, sites seeking a very specific job description from their intern (for example, “we need a youth minister”) may find it easier and more productive to seek someone through our internal job listings employment board rather than through Contextual Education. This is because the Contextual Education Office first works with each student to discover their learning goals (ex. “I want to be a better pastoral caregiver” or “I want to learn how to administer a non-profit”) and then suggest to them some sites that are a good fit for these goals. We typically suggest around five sites for each student to consider. A student can also choose to contact any site from our comprehensive site listings, but they tend to look first to the sites we offer them as potential good fits. From there, the student researches their potential sites and reaches out (usually by email) to those they want to pursue. It is important to note that the School of Theology currently has more partner sites than students who are seeking placements every year, so most sites have an intern only every few years when there is a good fit with a particular student’s learning goals.
What makes a site appealing to a potential student intern?
There are several things that can improve a site’s appeal to a student, including having a variety of learning opportunities therein, being close to public transportation, and providing at least minimum wage funding for the hours they work. Of course, not every site has these available and still they are unique and valuable sites of learning that students choose for other reasons. But these three site characteristics definitely increase the frequency of students choosing a site for their internship. Sites that are not near public transportation may be creative in considering how a student could access their site; we’ve had everything from paying for students to ride share or parishioners coming to pick up the student at a nearby train station. And sites unable to pay minimum wage for hours worked are asked to consider a stipend of at least $1500 each semester – or $3000 annually – to help support the student during their internship.
We are so grateful to our site partners, and have over the years found it to be a mutually-beneficial relationship between the School of Theology and those organizations with which we partner. We truly appreciate the time and energy sites and supervisors pour into our students’ learning, and we know that our students can provide leadership, energy, and support to those organizations they serve. We are always available as an office staff to answer any questions our site partners have, and we reach out at least once a year to each site to maintain connection and offer them resources from the School itself. We look forward to speaking with you about the potential of your organization joining our list of site partners. Please complete the “Site Partner Form” below:
Becoming a Site Supervisor
We do not add new Contextual Education Supervisors without them being associated with a partner site. Students connect with Supervisors through their sites of professional engagement. This means that, though a supervisor might be interested in mentoring a student, without their places of employment being willing to have an intern, this could set up a difficult dynamic. Both site and supervisor must willing to support a student’s contextual learning for it to be a good site/supervisor/student relationship.
If your site of employment is willing to have an intern, please complete the Site Partner Form above. You may also see the “Supervisor Frequently Asked Questions” below for additional information. If you have any additional questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Contextual Education Office at sthope@bu.edu.
