Professional practice guide for a student

							                         Professional practice guide for a student

Professional Practice goals and objectives
1. The main goal of practice- to develop students’ skills to apply theoretical knowledge in
   practical work and be able to solve business problems.
2. Practice should cultivate students’ self-dependence and creativity, develop an important skill
   to analyze emerging problems from different perspectives considering a concrete situation,
   and solve them taking into account all possible aspects.
3. The main objectives of practice:
       1) to form students’ skills that are necessary to fulfil the main business functions in
           different business areas (economic analysis, marketing and sales, accounting and
           finance, staff management, operations management, etc.);
       2) to form students’ skills necessary for the situational analysis and decision planning
           in different business organizations;
       3) to form students’ communicative skills;
       4) to develop students’ abilities to work in a team, to communicate and cooperate
           during the decision making;
       5) to establish conditions under which students could learn about the functioning of a
           specific business;
       6) to develop students’ abilities to apply theoretical knowledge in concrete business
           situations;
       7) to teach students to analyze and organize the administration of business or its
           separate divisions;
       8) to help students to acquire professional communication competences;
       9) to form students’ skills to analyze the performance of a particular business division,
           to collect and summarize statistical data, and draw conclusions;
       10) to establish conditions under which students could collect data for Bachelor’s paper.

Applications to undertake practice
4. Students should submit their signed applications (Application Form) to write Bachelor’s
   paper and/or undertake practice directly to an executive manager until November 6th.
5. A student while completing the application chooses to:
       1) write Bachelor’s paper and undertake practice;
       2) only write Bachelor’s paper (in this case a student studies subjects that are included
           into a particular program, takes exams, and writes a Bachelor’s paper).
6. Students who do not hand in applications or whose applications are not granted, study
   subjects included into a particular program, take exams on those subjects, and also have the
   final exam.

Practice fulfilment
7. Practice can be undertaken only by students who signed agreements prepared by an
    executive manager, and submitted VU IBS agreement copy signed by a practice institution
    to an executive manager no later than a week before the beginning of practice.
8. Students undertake practice during a semester indicated in the study program (usually the
    8th).
9. Practice length is established by the study program (3 months, 11 credits).
10. Students’ practice that is undertaken abroad according to international programs is organised
    following the rules established in those programs.
11. Students who start practice come to a practice institution on the day indicated in the
    agreement and at the time appointed by the institution, and refer to the practice institution
    contact man or coordinator mentioned in the agreement.
12. Student- practitioner has to obey practice institution’s work ethic requirements and internal
    rules, and carry out a coordinator’s assignments.
13. Student has to agree with his practice supervisor and coordinator on a practice program no
    later than a week after the start of practice (Practice Program form).
14. Student refers to a coordinator for consultations about the fulfilment of specific tasks given
    by the practice institution and the collection of necessary data for a practice report and
    Bachelor’s paper.
15. If a student can not come to a practice place because of illness or other serious reasons, he
    has to inform a coordinator on the same day. After a student returns to continue his practice
    he has to submit documents justifying his absence to the coordinator and, if necessary, to a
    practice supervisor.
16. Student-practitioner hands in to a coordinator a form of an institutional feedback about a
    student who underwent practice (Form of an institutional feedback on a student who
    underwent professional practice) and completes his report about a practice institution (Form
    of a student’s feedback on an institution where he underwent professional practice).
17. At the end of a practice period a student clears up his working place and returns working
    tools and documents to the institution.

Practice report
18. During practice a student prepares a practice report (Practice Report Front Page form, The
    List of Things to be Described and Analyzed in Practice Report) consulting his practice
    supervisor and coordinator, and following specific VU IBS requirements (Term paper
    preparation rules).
19. The same practice report can be prepared by no more than two students who undergo
    practice in the same practice institution.
20. If practice is fulfilled abroad, a practice report and all other documents related to practice are
    prepared in English.
21. Practice report should consist of 15-20 pages.
22. In a practice report there should be:
        1) a presentation of a practice institution, its goals, activities, its place in the market;
        2) a detailed description of Practice Program tasks performed during practice and
             analysis of results;
        3) data collected for Bachelor’s paper;
        4) a description of knowledge and skills acquired during practice, and evaluation of
             their efficiency;
23. Student submits a practice report project on paper to his practice supervisor no later than 3
    weeks before a practice reports defence day.
24. Student has to take into account his practice supervisor’s remarks and come to an agreement
    upon an improved practice report with his practice supervisor and coordinator, who have to
    sign on a practice report front page.
25. Student’s feedback on the institution where he underwent professional practice and
    institutional feedback on the student who underwent professional practice have to be
    inserted at the end of a practice report.
26. Student can only defend a practice report that is signed by a practice supervisor and
    coordinator.
     Academic evaluation of professional practice
     27. If a practice report is prepared by two or more students, a board evaluates each student’s
         contribution to the practice report and participation in a defence separately.
     28. Participation of a student who defends a practice report is obligatory.
     29. Practice report is defended publicly in front of a board.
     30. Participation of practice supervisors in a board session is not obligatory. If a practice
         supervisor does not participate in the board session, he has to submit his conclusions about
         each of his students’ practice to an executive manager before the start of the session.
     31. During a practice report defence a student has to use the means in accordance with the type
         of a report and technical facilities of a class. The report should take up to 5 minutes.
     32. Practice is evaluated according to the following criteria and their importance:
     Evaluation criterion                           Criterion       Grade Base of evaluation
                                                    importance
1.   Institutional feedback about a student 15                              Practice supervisor’s general
     who underwent practice, and practice                                   overview of institutional
     benefit to a practice institution                                      feedback about a student-
                                                                            practitioner.
2.   Student’s ability to apply theoretical 15                              Practice defence, practice
     knowledge in practice                                                  report.
3.   Tasks performed during practice: level 15                              Practice defence, practice
     of their difficulty, responsibility,                                   report.
     independence. Student’s feedback about
     a practice institution.
4.   Amount and suitability of collected data 10                            Practice defence, practice
     for Bachelor’s paper. Evaluation of                                    report.
     practice during practice defence.
5.   Practice report.                               30                      Practice report.
6.   Practice presentation                          15                      Practice defence
     Total                                          100

Coordinator- practice supervisor at a practice institution, practice supervisor- VU IBS practice
supervisor, executive manager- manager of studies responsible for professional practice.