HDS - Ministry Studies - Field Education Forms

Ministry Studies

Field Education Forms

The following forms are necessary to document a field education unit. Adobe Reader is required to view them (download Adobe Reader).

Field Education Forms The Learning Agreement, Mid-Year, and Final Evaluation should be printed and turned in to the Office of Ministry Studies in person.
Placement Contract Learning Agreement Mid-Year Evaluation Final Evaluation	Student-Initiated Application Student-Initiated Application for an International Placement Theological Reflection Forms Work-Study Affidavit Extension Request Site Financial Assistance Request Form

A Form-by-Form Guide

All students are responsible for turning in completed field education paperwork according to the published deadlines. It is encouraged that students keep a copy of everything they submit.

Placement Contract

When a student and a site come to agreement to do a field education placement together, after reviewing the details of the placement, the student must submit a completed Placement Contract to the Office of Ministry Studies. This form is required of all students for each unit of field education, including CPE and internships.

The Placement Contract registers the placement in the OMS and enables the office to ensure appropriate tracking for credit. It also informs the office of stipend information and acts as an application for work-study funding for the placement, if such funding applies.

In those placements funded by work-study, both the student and the supervisor are required to sign an Affidavit (PDF) acknowledging that they understand and will conform to the federal regulations governing the use of these funds.

Learning Agreement

The Learning Agreement is the structure by which the student and the supervisor are to work out and describe the details of the field education placement. It should flow from the student's overall learning goal, to the Arts of Ministry the student wishes to develop, to the various tasks the student will perform. There should be an internal consistency to these parts. A well constructed Learning Agreement will assure that the student and the site receive the things they need, that the expectations of the site and the student are clear and mutually understood, and it will guarantee that evaluations and negotiated changes will proceed from a solid base of specifically described components.

In addition to filling out the online Learning Agreement form, the student should attach a detailed written description of the Learning Agreement particulars. The following sections provide an outline to help the student and the supervisor to organize and delineate its substance. The student should also organize the Learning Agreement in the following categories:

Learning Goal: Indicate in a few sentences or a short paragraph your overall expectations for this learning experience in light of your vocational/professional goals. For example: What has led you to choose this setting as your field education project?
Arts of Ministry: For each of the Arts of Ministry you have indicated you plan to develop, please describe using precise objectives, the issues you wish to explore, the competencies you wish to cultivate, the theological areas you wish to reflect on, and the areas of personal and spiritual growth you would like to address.
Tasks: In light of the Arts of Ministry and issues you intend to address, describe the tasks and projects that will ensure this learning. Describe each task as specifically as possible. For example, if you are preaching, indicate how many times and the dates (if they are known). If you are planning to do pastoral visitation, indicate which days and hours and whom you will be visiting.
- Resources: For each task, outline the resources available to support and inform your work. Resources may be people at the site, courses you have taken or will take, reading assigned in the placement, or your professional or personal experience.
Supervision: Specify the ways in which your work will be presented and reflected upon in supervision. Theological supervision is different from planning or that which occurs during a staff meeting. This is the time to reflect theologically and also about your work, your interactions, your identity, and your theology as they come up in your ministry. There are many useful tools to help with this supervisory process. Among them are: theological reflection reports, critical incident reports, verbatim reports, sermon feedback, or journals.

Student-Initiated Placements

If the site in which the student wishes to complete a field education placement is not an HDS accredited site of HDS or any other Boston Theological Institute (BTI) school, the student must complete a Student-Initiated Application (PDF). If that application is approved, the student and the site must complete the Placement Contract and other documents above.

Harvard Divinity School

Ministry Studies

Field Education Forms

Field Education Forms

A Form-by-Form Guide

Placement Contract

Learning Agreement

Student-Initiated Placements