Captain Van Oss, Head of the Department of Career Services and Professional Development presented to the club during our meeting on February 20th. Key points included the following:

Sea Year is formally called Shipboard Training Sea Year and the theme is “The world is our Campus”.  Its purpose is to allow the midshipman to gain invaluable experience in shipboard operations, acquire competencies and the professional attributes required to be an officer.  Sea Year Instructions are available online.

Schedule for the class of 2008:
      First Year
           B split 6/21/05 - 11/6/05
           A split 10/28/05 - 3/12/05
           Goal – 2 ships, 100 sea days

     Second Year
           2008 B split 3/3/06 - 11/5/06
           2008 A split 10/27/06 - 7/22/06
           Goal – 2 semesters, 200 sea days
                       and an Internship.

Sea Projects: Study of Construction, Operations and Administration of a commercial vessel. First out to sea = 6 to 7 credits, 100 days and 2-10 STCW operations. Second out to sea =13.5 to 14 credits, 200 sea days, 2-6 week internship and 3-11 STCW observations.

"Cadets" work not more than 8 hours per day with another 3 hours per day on their sea project. They are allowed to work longer if there is a unique project happening on their ship.

Internship program:  Intro to Basic Business Organizations, 1-3 credits, 2-6 week duration with a written report or presentation.

Someone is always available no matter where you Midshipman is day or night while at sea or in travel to port destinations.
                          --Courtesy of Dawn Cooley