Ghent University distinguishes between an academic promoter and an work placement supervisor for work placement guidance:

• The academic promoter is the lecturer responsible for the work placement course unit within the study programme. They are the final responsible for the work placement course unit and decide on the final mark.  
• The work placement supervisor is responsible for supervising the trainee from within the study programme. This can, but does not have to be, the work placement coordinator. 
  • They take on the general supervision and should sufficiently inform the students about: 
    • what the work placement objectives are and how they are set
    • how the students can pick an work placement
  • They can organize various supervising activities: 
    • one-on-one feedback conversations, 
    • observations,
    • digital support, 
    • …
  • They should look for the perfect balance between supporting the students in their work placement, and stimulating the students to take responsibility themselves, and to independently take on the tasks of the work placement.
  • They evaluate the student. Do keep in mind that the work placement coordinator always has final responsibility, as is clearly stated in Ghent University’s testing principles. 

 

For work placement supervision at the work placement provider, the students can consult the work placement mentor. They are responsible for the daily supervision of the trainee. 

• The work placement mentor has, among others, the following responsibilities:
  • organising introduction, evaluation and feedback consultations with the student;
  • following up on the action plan;
  • taking down factual data about the student’s functioning at the workplace in accordance with the objectives that have to be met; 
  • providing proper support at the workplace;
  • reporting impeding circumstances to the study programme; 
  • evaluating the student, in accordance with the arrangements made with the study programme. Keep in mind that the final responsibility of the evaluation lies with the work placement director, who can of course act based upon the information provided by the work placement mentor.  
• The work placement contract clearly states who takes on the role of the work placement mentor in the company or organization. 

 

The work placement director, the work placement supervisor and the work placement mentor have to communicate properly about supervising and evaluating the work placement. 

Finally, Ghent University also appoints an work placement coordinator. They handle the administrative follow-up of the work placement for the faculty or study programme.