Term Paper Guidelines

The term paper will be due on last Friday before finals week before 5:00 p.m.

PREPARE A COMPREHENSIVE TREATISE DESCRIBING THE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES USED BY THE GARDEN OR ARBORETUM ATTENDED BY THE INTERN

An important purpose of this term paper will be to induce students to think more broadly about their internship experience rather than being limited to a more narrow focus on the duties or assignments of the internship itself. The well-prepared student will begin work on this term paper during the internship period through seeking needed information from the professionals and resources available on site at the garden or arboretum. Nevertheless, the term paper will not be due until the end of that semester following the internship.

The required information and its order of presentation should be as described below:

• Cover page. Including paper title, course, author, major, class, date, location, and professor.
• Project summary (500 words). An abstract describing what is being presented.
• Table of contents (1/2 to 1 page as needed, on a separate page).
• Philosophy and goals (1 page). Summary and explanation of the stated philosophy and goals of the garden or arboretum.
• Overall management hierarchy as it relates to personnel (2 pages). Including qualifications, education, and experiences of professionals.
• Methods of financial support (2 pages). Donations, endowments, competitive grants, fund-raising, fees, services, annual budget(s) by division, etc.
• Outreach efforts (3 pages). Public education programs, newsletters, publications, working groups, libraries, collaborations, internships, docents, services provided.
• Curation approaches (2 pages). Record keeping, herbaria, seed banks, maintenance, replacement, collection development.
• Major, unique, and most important collections (2 pages). Detailed description of breadth and depth of collections, and an overview of research efforts.
• Summary (1 page). Provide an overall evaluation of how well the garden or arboretum fulfills its stated philosophy and goals.
• References (all information must be cited using a standard reference format)

Reports must use the primary headings shown below:

• Project Summary
• Table of Contents
• Philosophy
• Management Hierarchy
• Financial Support
• Outreach
• Curation
• Collections
• Summary
• References

Subheadings should not be used in this report.

Other Format: 8.5" by 11" white paper, single-spaced, 1 inch margins all around, 10 or 12 point font. Use of 10 point font is preferred. Modest uses of color acceptable. Figures or tables will not count as fulfilling the minimum requirements. Nevertheless, this report should include none or only a few figures or tables.

Page Numbers: The above page number guidelines represent a minimum per section. Nevertheless, I request that you do not exceed these page number requests by more than one page without prior approval from the instructor.

Special Note: Internships related to public horticulture, but not associated with a botanical garden or arboretum, may require a modified format from above and be approved by the Public Horticulture Option Advisor.