On the syllabus for one of my courses, one assignment requires us to “shadow” a manager (in this case a hospitality manager) for at least 5 hours. We are required to set up this “field trip” ourselves. I have contacted several companies, and so far none of them has responded with an invitation to shadow or any other kind of follow up. I had a feeling this would be a problem - the company gets nothing out of it other than the hassle of hosting you and worry about you getting in the way! I have no idea how I’m going to get permission somewhere to do this - so I’m worried I need to drop the class before the deadline. Has anyone else had to fulfill a requirement like this? How do you get a place to give you permission?
Have you tried contacting the professor for advice? They must have had students who had trouble fulfilling this requirement before. Perhaps, they can point you towards companies/managers that have been welcoming in the past or they may be able to give you advice on how/who to ask that might help you be more successful. It’s also possible that if enough students contact the professor expressing difficulty finding a manager willing to let them shadow them, they may consider restructuring the assignment or providing more guidance or assistance.
I contacted her, but she didn’t answer. She posted on Blackboard that she’d be “out of town” week one (the class is online.) By the time she comes back to answer, it will be too late to drop the class without penalty. So I’m going to have to figure out whether this will be feasible or not without her input. I hope other students are contacting her, but with class not in session yet most are probably still focusing on their last week of vacation. Is it just my imagination, or does this shadowing thing seem like a strange request? Thanks for your help!