Augsburg Experiences for Computer Science Majors

Department of Computer Science
Completing the Augsburg Experience Within the Major

Augsburg College requires that each student complete a requirement that links classroom knowledge and skills with the larger community (outside of Augsburg). Such an expectation illustrates the commitment that students connect to the larger community and include an explicit experiential component in their Augsburg Educations. There are five major avenues across the college for fulfilling this requirement:

internships,
service learning,
research with a faculty member,
international/off-campus study,
and special/individualized off-campus immersion experiences as approved.

It is important to keep in mind the following points.

The Augsburg Experience may be done as part of the major or outside the major.
The opportunities may be scheduled during the summer as well as the regular academic year.
Augsburg Experiences may be for credit or not for credit.

Though any Augsburg student may complete an Augsburg Experience outside of his or her major program, the Computer Science Department offers a number of specific computer science-related opportunities for students to complete Augsburg Experiences:

Internships.

Internships are generally arranged by the student. An internship must represent a significant difference in responsibilities and skills from any regular duties a student may have as part of his or her employment. The Center for Service, Work, and Learning maintains a database of general internship opportunities. The department also receives requests for interns from time to time. See your faculty advisor for more information. Internships may be taken on either a for-credit basis or a not-for-credit basis.

Faculty-student research projects.

Qualifying research projects include department honors projects, independent study projects, or collaborative work with a faculty member. A student must present the result of his or her research project at an off-campus public venue for this to qualify as an Augsburg Experience. Several members of the computer science faculty conduct on-going research. See individual faculty members for more information.

Off-campus research projects.

REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) programs or research assistant positions qualify as Augsburg Experiences. For these, the student needs a sponsor at Augsburg (who should be a member of the computer science department). Students must submit written reports of their experience including general summaries of the research methods and findings to their faculty sponsor for evaluation.

Service learning projects

Volunteering at Learning in Style (LIS) has been approved as an Augsburg Experience. Each semester, one CS major of at least junior standing volunteers for 50 hours at this Minneapolis learning center for adult immigrants. The student also participates in a no-credit seminar offered by the Center for Service, Work and Learning. Previous LIS volunteers have tutored in basic computer skills, updated software, maintained hardware, created Web pages and helped with grant proposals.

The Center for Service, Work, and Learning also maintains a list of service learning opportunities, some of which have components related to computer science.

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