This study explored the beliefs, intentions, and knowledge bases of nine university supervisors and their sense of efficacy in relation to their performance as supervisors. The supervisors were attached to two teacher education programs based within two universities which differed in the structure of their teacher education programs and, to some extent, in the way student teaching was approached. Supervisors from one university had come up through the system as teachers, cooperating teachers, and then supervisors, and as a group were more experienced than the other group, which consisted of a full-time supervisor, a faculty member, and three graduate students. The study describes the supervisors' backgrounds, the teacher education program of which they were a part, their views of their place within that program, and their feedback to their student teachers. In interviews, the supervisors were questioned on their own experiences and attitudes toward teaching and student teaching, the role and activities of university supervisors, cooperating teachers, student teaching, and teacher education. A discussion is presented of various weaknesses in the supervision of student teachers, and conclusions are drawn on the positive or negative aspects of the relationships within the triad of student teacher, cooperating teacher, and university supervisor. (JD)