Faculty Liaison Site Visits and Progress Conferences

Purpose of Faculty Liaison Site Visits

During your externship, the program does not simply place you with an employer and wait for you to return. A faculty liaison maintains active contact with your worksite throughout the placement. The liaison's job is to verify that you are working safely, progressing toward your learning objectives, and accumulating the hours and portfolio evidence you need to complete the program. Two formal on-site visits and one mid-placement phone or video conference are the structured checkpoints that make this oversight possible.

These contacts also protect you. If a workstation is set up unsafely, if a supervisor's expectations drift away from your Externship Learning Plan, or if you fall behind on hours, the liaison can intervene early—before a small problem becomes a reason for removal or a failing grade.

Site Visit 1 (Approximately Week 4)

The first visit occurs around the fourth week of placement, after you have had roughly two full weeks on the floor. The faculty liaison meets with both you and your site supervisor at the same time. The conversation covers three main areas.

Learning Plan review. The liaison opens the Externship Learning Plan you and your supervisor signed at the start of placement. Together, all three parties confirm that the tasks you are actually performing match what was agreed—drafting assignments, CAD file management, BIM coordination tasks, or marine/manufacturing drawing work as specified.

Workstation safety inspection. The liaison physically inspects your workstation. Key items include: clear egress paths, monitor height and glare control for ergonomic compliance, proper housekeeping around plotters and printers, secure storage of any hazardous materials (inks, solvents, cleaning agents), and confirmation that lockout/tagout procedures are posted and understood for any shared shop equipment you may approach. If you work near machining, fabrication, or marine construction areas, the liaison confirms that required personal protective equipment—safety glasses, hearing protection, steel-toed footwear—is available and that you know when to use it. Any deficiency found at this stage is documented on the Program Site Visit Report form and assigned a written corrective action with a specific deadline.

Log review. The liaison reads through your first two weeks of daily log entries, checking that entries are detailed, honest, and consistent with the work the supervisor describes. Vague entries or gaps are flagged as corrective actions.

Mid-Placement Phone or Video Conference (Approximately Week 6)

Around week six the liaison contacts your supervisor by phone or video call—this visit does not require travel to the site. The call has three focused questions:

1. What is the supervisor's verbal progress rating for the student at the midpoint?

2. Have any safety incidents, near-misses, or unsafe conditions occurred since Visit 1?

3. Is the student on track to meet the required placement hours by the end of the term?

The liaison records the answers as conference notes and files them with the program office. If the supervisor reports a safety incident that was not previously communicated, the liaison initiates the school's incident-reporting procedure regardless of severity. No safety concern waits until the next scheduled contact.

Site Visit 2 (Approximately Week 8)

The second formal visit happens near the end of the placement, when your portfolio and log are close to complete. This visit has a different character from the first—it is evaluative rather than corrective.

Portfolio and log review. The liaison reviews your near-complete portfolio of drawings, models, and documentation. Entries should show measurable growth from week one to week eight. CAD file organization, title-block compliance, revision history, and drawing standards should all be evident.

Workstation observation. The liaison watches you perform an actual task at your workstation. This might be detailing a part in AutoCAD, updating a Revit model, or managing a sheet set in SolidWorks. The observation gives the liaison direct evidence of your skill level, independent of supervisor reports.

Employer evaluation form. The liaison completes the faculty section of the employer evaluation rubric while on-site, then reviews it with your supervisor to align ratings before the form is finalized.

Debrief planning. The liaison discusses with you and your supervisor whether all program expectations will be met by the placement's end and confirms the date of your post-externship debrief back at school.

Resolving Corrective Actions

Any corrective action issued at Visit 1 must be closed—documented as resolved—before Visit 2. Closing an action means the deficiency is fixed, not simply acknowledged. For example, if your log entries were too brief, you must produce properly detailed entries for subsequent weeks; the liaison reviews them at Visit 2 to confirm improvement. Safety-related corrective actions carry the strictest deadlines; an unresolved safety deficiency can result in immediate suspension of the placement.

What Counts as a Passing Placement

Your placement is marked complete and passing when all of the following are true at the close of the term:

• Both Site Visit Reports are filed with the program office.
• All corrective actions from Visit 1 are documented as resolved.
• The faculty liaison has confirmed in writing that no outstanding safety concerns exist.
• The conference notes from the mid-placement call are on file.
• The employer evaluation rubric (faculty section) is signed and submitted.

Meeting every deadline for these documents is as much a professional skill as drawing to tolerance or building a clean Revit model. Employers in manufacturing and marine drafting expect you to manage deliverables on schedule—start that habit now.