Internship Guidelines

Before the Internship

1. Students are responsible for arranging their own internship as they would find any other job.
2. Students can contact one of the organizations listed on the linked virtual bulletin board, or they can explore other internship opportunities independently.
3. Internships may be paid or unpaid.
4. A student may be currently employed in a position, which may also qualify for internship credits.
5. The University does not provide internship credit for past work experience, and the Faculty Advisor must approve all internships prior to arranging for credit.
6. College of Liberal Arts students may only apply a maximum of 12 internship credits towards their total college credits.

Internship Criteria

In order to receive university credit, all internship placements must be pre-approved by the Social Sciences department.

1. The internship job assignment must directly relate to the student’s coursework and concentration and must enhance job-applicable skills relevant to the major.
2. The internship opportunity must be open to all Social Sciences students; that is the agency, business, or other organization must have inclusive, non-discriminatory hiring practices.
3. Students may work for faith-based organizations if the focus of their activity is secular, service-oriented and does not involve proselytizing.
    

Required at the Beginning of the Internship

1. Internship agreements for Sociology, Anthropology or Geography. 
2. E-mail from Job Supervisor:
   The Job Supervisor must send an email message to the department internship coordinator to verify your internship employment with the business, agency, or organization, describing the work to be done, and stating the number of hours to be worked. The department internship coordinator for Anthropology and Geography for 2024-2025 is Dr. Terry Jones (tljones@calpoly.edu). The coordinator for Sociology is Dr. Martine Lappe (mlapp@calpoly.edu).
3. Approval from Internship Advisor and Department Chair: 
   Submit your internship agreement and supervisor letter to the Social Science Department. Meet with your Internship Advisor and the Department Chair for approval and signatures on the agreement.
4. Permission Number: ​​Submit all paperwork to the appropriate internship supervisor for your major who will provide you the course number, class ID, and a permission number so that you can register on PASS.
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During the Internship

The student and the job supervisor should keep track of the duties performed and the number of hours completed, as number of hours determines the number of units of credit for the internship.
 

Required on completion of Internship

To receive credit, the student must complete the following online:

1. STUDENT EVALUATION FORM which also includes a reflection about the internship experience. This will be sent out by your course instructor. 
2. INTERNSHIP SUPERVISOR/EMPLOYER FORM which may include a letter of recommendation. This will be sent out by your course instructor. 

Important! These documents must be turned in by finals week in order to receive credit.
 

SUMMARY

 All 4 documents are required by finals week in order to receive a grade:

1. INTERNSHIP AGREEMENT (submitted by student before quarter of internship)
2. SUPERVISOR LETTER verifying internship employment (submitted by employer before quarter of internship)
3. SUPERVISOR EVALUATION FORM of the intern (submitted by employer by finals week of internship quarter)
4. STUDENT EVALUATION FORM and reflection about internship (submitted by student by finals week of internship quarter)