Description of the Placement Process

Inclusion in the curriculum

The course Practical Placement:

• is worth 22 credits 
• students are required to complete 560 hours (14 working weeks) of in-company practical placement
• in the recommended study plan, the course is included in the 6th semester
  
  

Administrative arrangements for practical placements at the VŠPJ

Practical Placements for the Applied Mechanical Engineering study programme are organised by two roles in the Department of Technical Studies: Practical Placement Tutor and Practical Placement Officer.

The role of the Practical Placement Tutor is in particular:

• assess and approve intended practical placements
• check the progress of the placement
• evaluate and approve the outcomes of the completed practical placements
• grant credits
• ensure the smooth organisation of the Practical Placements in the Department of Technical Studies and solve serious issues related to the students' practical placements

The role of the Practical Placement Officer is mainly

• administratively ensure the placement affairs
• record the necessary documents relating to practical placements
• provide a consultancy service regarding the practical placements

General rules

The practical placements of the Applied Mechanical Engineering study programme can be broadly divided into two categories, and the way in which the placement is supervised, implemented and evaluated will vary according to the type of placement:

• the student contributes to the creation of a specific, measurable product or output (a programme, analysis, design or implementation, experiment, etc.); this is a project-type placement;

• the student participates in day-to-day, ongoing continuous activities (e.g. ongoing network management including problem identification and resolution, software testing, virtualization, data storage management)

In both cases, care must be taken to ensure that the activities performed are consistent with the graduate profile (see also Introduction, Theoretical Knowledge and Activities to Practise)

Before starting the practical placement

Not later than 3 weeks before the start of the placement, the student will register his/her placement company and post in the portal praxe.vspj.cz. 

Next, the reported practical placement intention will be reviewed by the Practical Placement Tutor to determine whether it meets the requirements for the Practical Placement and the student’s study programme. No later than 10 business days after the intended placement is reported, the student will be informed whether it has been approved.

The entity (company) offering the practical placement post may require the student to take an entrance test when the student applies for the placement. If it is determined that the student does not meet the required level, the entity has the right to reject the student.

Not later than 5 working days before the start of the practical placement, the student shall submit to the Practical Placement Officer the Practical Placement Agreement with all the requisites. The contract can be found in the Practical Placement portal after the student's intended placement has been approved by the supervisor. The agreement is generated with all the details and information that the student filled in when reporting. The practical placement agreement is confirmed on behalf of the VŠPJ by the head of the relevant department. The contract must indicate the designated staff member responsible for the student's work experience, as determined by the organisation. It is required (see also Description of the placement post) that this person has a university degree of at least Bachelor's level (in justified cases this requirement may be waived)

During the practical placement

During the practical placement, the student fills in the Practical Placement Work Log at least once a week in the portal praxe.vspj.cz. During the placement, there are checks by the VŠPJ – see below. 

Upon completion of the placement

Credits will be awarded by the Practical Placement Tutor on the basis of fulfilling the conditions listed in chapter Practical placement evaluation.

Approval and monitoring of the placement

Approval of the practical placement is based on the information provided in the form “Intended Practical Placement Report” (available in the documents section of the portal praxe.vspj.cz). The requirements for the specification vary according to the type of practical placement, as set out above in the General Rules section in this chapter. Detailed information on monitoring the practical placement is provided below; however, the practical placement work log will always be monitored on an ongoing basis.

Production of a measurable outcome (the “project” type)

1) Approval of a placement of this type is subject to:

• A precise specification of the initial state of the problem (the terms of reference, what has already been analysed, what has already been implemented, what experiments have already been carried out)
• exact specification of the outcome of the practice (e.g. description of the planned functionality of the program, description of the intended analysis, outline of the planned experiments)
• exact specification of the student's role in solving the problem (e.g. the student will program module X, perform a series of experiments Y–Z, etc.)

The above information must be provided by the work placement provider (company) and must be included in the "Intended Practical Placement Report" form.

2) The student may agree with the employer on a specific arrangement for carrying out the work placement, whereby he/she does not have to be present at the workplace all the time, but may perform the activities related to the practice from any location; this must be indicated on the “Intended Practical Placement Report” form.

3) Compliance with the practical placement requirements is verified by comparing the specifications set out in point 1) with the actual circumstances.

• If in the course of performing the practical placement there is a significant change in the specification according to point 1), the student is obliged to notify the Practical Placement Tutor, who will decide on further action.
• The inspection is carried out by the Practical Placement Tutor or another person authorised by the Practical Placement Tutor – if the student is working on his/her bachelor thesis during the placement, this person may be the thesis supervisor.
• If the subject of the activity is protected as company know-how, the conditions under which the inspection will take place must be demonstrably agreed with the company in advance.

4)   If the employer detects gross misconduct on the part of the student, he/she shall inform the Practical Placement Tutor; such a finding may be grounds for not awarding credits.

Ongoing continuous activity

1) Approval of this type of practical placement is subject to:

• A precise specification of the student's job description, i.e., a specific description of the student's duties, competencies and responsibilities. A vague description such as "the student will perform activities as required by the supervisor" cannot be accepted.
• Indicate the location of the workplace where the student will be doing the placement and the hours during which the student will be at the workplace.

The above information must be supplied by the practical placement provider (company) and must be included on the “Intended Practical Placement Report” form.

2) The student must be present at the designated workplace during the specified hours for the entire duration of the practical placement.

3) Monitoring the performance of the placement is done by random checks that the student is present at the workplace and that he/she is performing the specified activity.

• If, during the course of the placement, there is a significant change in the specification according to 1), the student is obliged to report this fact to the Practical Placement Tutor, who will decide on further action.
• The inspection is carried out by the Practical Placement Tutor or another person authorised by the Practical Placement Tutor – if the student is working on his/her bachelor thesis during the placement, this person may be the thesis supervisor.
• If the subject of the activity is protected as company know-how, the conditions under which the inspection will take place must be demonstrably agreed with the company in advance.

4) If the employer detects a gross violation of work duties by the student, he/she shall inform the Practical Placement Tutor. Such a finding may be grounds for not awarding credits.