Faculty/Students Information


Observations and Practicum

The N. E. Miles Early Childhood Development Center welcomes professors and students who want to coordinate course assignments with real world observations and activities involving young children. Because of the volume of requests, we carefully schedule and monitor this process so that we can accommodate as many requests as possible without disruption to the classroom routines.

Faculty should complete the Observation Request Form (pdf) and familiarize their students with our academic Visitor Guidelines (pdf). Forms can be returned by email to ecdc@cofc.edu or faxed to 843.953.5608. Assignments that require collection of photographs or artifacts generated by children require a Permission for use of Classroom Artifacts (pdf) to be signed by parent/guardian.

We generally wait two to three weeks before beginning the observation schedule each semester. Observations and practicum activities may be available during Maymester and Summer I sessions on a limited basis.

Coordination of formal practicum assignments in the School of Education (SOE) are done through the Office of Student Services and Certification.

See the Program and Visitor Info page for details about Hours of Operations, Location, parking, etc.

Research

Faculty or graduate students wishing to use the ECDC population for research purposes should contact Katie Houser, Program Director, at 843.953.5606 to discuss the proposal before submitting a request. The research request form (pdf) should then be completed and submitted with all necessary attachments.

All research projects that fall under the jurisdiction of the College of Charleston Institutional Review Board must be IRB approved before research can commence.

Parents sign a general release that allows their children to participate in observation and practicum activities, but they must be provided individual consent forms for research projects and are not required to participate.

Volunteering

ECDC also welcomes volunteers and service projects of many kinds. Prospective volunteers should complete the Volunteer Application and contact the director, Katie Houser to discuss potential projects at 843.953.5606.

Student Employment Opportunities

ECDC provides a great opportunity for College of Charleston students to gain valuable classroom teaching experience working with young children and highly qualified master teachers. We have five Graduate Assistants (GAs) and between 15-20 hourly student Teaching Assistants (TAs) each semester.

All student workers are employees of the College, and hired either through the Career Center or the Graduate School. Student employees are required to provide necessary documentation to meet DSS licensing requirements for health and abuse clearances. Students are also required to participate in orientation and training provided by ECDC as needed.

To meet NAEYC accreditation assistant teacher qualifications requirementswe prefer that prospective student employees be declared education majors, but we welcome applicants from all majors. Student employees who are not education majors may have to meet additional training requirements.

Graduate Assistantships

 GAs are contracted for up to twenty hours per week and usually work in the mornings. Schedules are adapted to accommodate academic requirements for field placements. An assistantship is a form of financial aid and the stipend rate usually covers full time tuition costs. GAs work under the supervision of the master teacher and usually stay with the same class group for the duration of their assistanship. We prefer applicants who will have at least two semesters of eligibility. Students interested in assistantships should complete an Assistantship Application (pdf) at the Graduate School and contact Katie Houser.

Hourly Teaching Assistants

TAs may be either undergraduate or graduate students who are scheduled and paid on an hourly basis. Students usually work in the afternoons, but also are scheduled to work some mornings when our GAs are out on field placement. Typically, TAs supervise nap/rest times and afternoon informal indoor and outdoor play and classroom activities. Classroom placements and the number of hours a student works per week can vary greatly; schedules are determined by matching our staffing needs with student course schedules. We prefer student applicants who have at least two semesters of availability. Interested students should complete a Student Employment Application (pdf) and contact Katie Houser for an interview.

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