An internship can enable student a student to extend the learning of psychology into the community through hands-on, practical experiences.

Guidelines:

• An internship consists of a minimum of 160 hours of on-the-job experience in a mental health, human resource, or research position.
• Generally, students are responsible for finding a suitable site for conducting their internship. The Center for Career Development office provides guidance and information to students seeking to secure an internship.
• Students must be sponsored by a faculty member, and receive approval by the internship coordinator in the department.

Internships do not count toward the minimum requirement in the major, but do count as an elective toward graduation requirements. Internships are graded S/U. Students can complete their internship over the summer or during the academic year (Psy 473). 

To Register:

Once you have been offered and have accepted an internship, you need to login to Student Center and complete a For-Credit Learning Contract (academic credit Student Center Guide).

To Receive Credit:

To receive credit, the following requirements must be met:

• The internship must be related to psychology and approved by the Psychology Department Internship Coordinator (Prof. Kathy Berenson)
• You must complete a total of 160 hours
• You are required to keep a daily journal of your activities at the internship.  This is to be turned in to the Internship Coordinator at the end of your internship
• You must complete a research paper.  In this paper, you should review empirical research in psychology on a topic that is related to your internship experience.  You may consult with the Internship Coordinator when choosing a topic.  Papers are approximately 15 pages in length, and are due at the end of your internship.  
• When doing a summer internship, academic credit is applied to your transcript the following fall semester.

Planning:

Planning is important when setting up an internship. Generally, research and application should begin the semester before an internship will take place. For summer internships, students should consider exploring potential internship opportunities during the Christmas and/or Spring Break.  

Once secured, an internship should be formally approved by the coordinator at least two weeks before the end of the semester preceding the internship.

More Info:

For more information about how to find, apply for and secure an internship, contact the Center for Career Development.

For department approval or details about planning for an internship as a psychology major, contact the Psychology Internship Coordinator, Kathy Berenson.