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Internship Coordinator:
Dr. Ming Tsui
Soc-Anth
students seeking a concentration in sociology are required to complete
either an internship, a research project, or an honors thesis.
If you are thinking of pursuing a career or graduate degree in social
services an internship in a social services agency or other public-service
organization can prove very valuable to your education. Pre-Law
students have found that internships in law offices have been useful
in helping them decide if the practice of law is really for them,
and if so, which kind of law.
These guidelines
are intended to reduce uncertainty surrounding the internship requirements.
Please read these thoroughly and keep them accessible. Dr. Ming
Tsui is overseeing the internships and any questions should be addressed
to her. Please be aware that the Career Services also offers an
internship program and that ours is different. If you need
internship credit for your Soc-Anth major you need to register for
the department's internship (Soc-Anth 4850 or 4852).
Purpose
of the Internship
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The internship
is intended both to provide you with practical experience and field-based
training in an organization engaged in social research, human services,
or community services. It is also a medium through which you fulfill
the second part of the department's research methods requirement
(the first part being your successful completion of Methods and
Statistics).
The faculty
of the department are hopeful that the internship experience will
be highly rewarding to you. To ensure the experience is a positive
and enriching one you must be careful in selecting your internship.
Ideally, through your internship you will be able to see the inner-workings
of the organization, learn about relevant social issues, and help
the organization with its daily operations and long-term projects.
You should not expect people associated with your internship organization
to bend over backwards to educate you, or give you special treatment.
They are doing you and the department a favor by letting you be
involved in their organization. It takes a lot of time an commitment
from the hosting organization to have interns.
Very occasionally,
students will find themselves in substandard situations because
the internship field supervisor misunderstands the goals of an internship.
It is up to you to negotiate the terms of your involvement as you
interview with the organization you are considering for your internship.
If an internship looks like it is not going to work out, look for
something else. Also, don't assume that your field supervisor automatically
knows what your educational goals for the internship are, it is
up to you to assert these.
Requirements
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- Internship
Synthesis Paper -- A 10-15 page paper where you
discuss you internship experience paying attention to its relevance
to your major and general educational value
- Field
notes -- Keep a field notebook to be turned in with the
paper
- Hours
-- The following are minimum hours required that you spend at
your internship:
- Full
credit: 116 hours (average 8 hours/week
- Half
credit 58 hours (average 4 hours/week) )
This system
is designed for maximum flexibility and the above hours requirements
are the minimum the department requires you to spend at your internship.
You may arrange with your employer to allocate the hours in a way
that is mutually beneficial. For instance, you may work consistently
a fixed number of hours per week over the course of the semester
for which you are getting internship credit, or you may arrange
to complete the internship in three weeks, working 40 hours/week.
This concentrated work load would be suitable for summer. If you
want to complete your internship work during the summer, you may
either pay for summer credit and write the paper that session, or
enroll for the internship credit the following fall, and complete
the paper in the fall.
Generally, students
sign up for a full credit unless special circumstances make this
impractical or cost-inefficient.
The internship
is generally taken credit/no credit earns a letter grade based mainly
on the research project, and to a lesser extent the field supervisor's
evaluation (a strongly negative evaluation will be factored into
the final grade, a glowing evaluation will not compensate for a
mediocre research project). As far as grading is concerned, the
internship functions as a regular course, and the guidelines that
apply to the credit/no credit option also apply to the internship.
Finding
the Internship
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While the responsibility
for finding the internship ultimately rests on you, the department
faculty and other students can be helpful in locating an internship.
Dr. Tsui is compiling a notebook on internship options, but this
is under construction.
Faculty
Sponsorship and Internship Advising
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Your first visit
to a faculty member regarding the internship should be to Dr. Tsui.
She keeps copies of all internship records, research papers, supervisor's
reports, and all correspondence to the department regarding the
internship from the field supervisor should be addressed to her.
She also consults with each student on the methodology of the field-research
project. During the initial consultation with Dr. Tsui you will
discuss which faculty member would be suited to reading and evaluating
your internship and research paper. Remember to give Dr. Tsui
a copy of you papers, and other relevant materials for the files.
It is the students
responsibility to fill out the correct forms for the internship
to be valid. The Internship Agreement must be filed with the Office
of Records, along with any additional registration materials.
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