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Introduction
The Internship is a 3-semester-hour course required for all undergraduate degrees in Psychology with the exception of Honors students, who write a thesis. It is normally taken during the Senior year.
Purpose
The internship is designed to afford students direct experience with the day-to-day conduct of some area of applied psychology. Such experience allows students to see applications of the knowledge they have gained in their psychology course work and acquaints them with the activities of working psychologists.
Procedure for Enrolling:
1. Discuss your internship choice with your advisor during the semester prior to its performance. He or she must approve your choice, taking into consideration your career plans and the particular needs of the internship settings. The Undergraduate Program keeps information about potential sites in a database on the web. The database requires a password; consult your advisor or the main office secretaries.
2. Call the contact person at the internship site and get his or her approval. Most sites have limits on how many interns they can accept each semester.
3. Ask the site supervisor to complete the Internship Arrangements Form. Bring this form to the Psychology office.
4. Complete the Statement of Career Objectives form. Bring this form to the Psychology office.
5. Register for the course, PSY4411. If two sections of PSY4411 are available, ask your advisor which one is appropriate for your major.
Deadline: See below.
Internship site requirements:
1. The internship must include activities of a paraprofessional nature that are within the student's ability to accomplish with reasonable proficiency. Routine clerical duties will not be considered appropriate.
2. Direct supervision must be provided by an individual who holds a post-graduate degree in psychology or a related area. This person will be expected to complete a student evaluation form describing the quality of the student's work during the semester and recommend a letter grade (A,B,C, etc.) that reflects this work. This form is due by 5pm on the last day of classes. Forms may be obtained in the Main Office.
3. A plan for the internship must be developed and approved that delineates the nature of the student's assignment and supervision. This plan is submitted for approval on the "Internship Arrangements" form available in the Psychology Main Office.
Required activities:
1. The student will contribute 60 contact hours per credit hour to the site, e.g., 12 hours/week for 3 credit hours over a 15-week semester. In an 8-week Summer term, the requirement is 22.5 hours/week; 15 hours per week in a 12-week Summer term.
2. The student and supervisor must complete a report of activities once every three weeks. Please use this document as a template for the report. See below for due dates.
You should email the report to both the Psychology undergraduate secretary (Debora Masters) and your advisor at the same time. Do not bring the reports in on paper. Do not miss the deadlines.
3. A detailed report describing activities performed in the internship must be submitted at the end of the semester. The paper should be 5-10 pages in length. This paper is due by 5pm on the last day of classes.
4. The student must arrange for the internship supervisor to evaluate him or her on the form "Internship: Evaluation of Student", available on the web. This evaluation must be received by the student's advisor by 5pm on the last day of classes.
5. The student must complete an evaluation of the Internship site on the form "Internship: Evaluation of Site". This form is due by 5pm on the last day of classes.
6. A mandatory meeting of all students enrolled in Internship will be held at the end of the Semester. Students will report on their activities and discuss issues that arose.
| Summary of Activities and Deadlines |
| Activity |
Deadline |
If you miss the deadline... |
| Submit Internship Arrangements Form and Career Objectives Form |
End of 2nd week of classes |
Removal from course |
| Triweekly Reports |
End of: weeks 4, 7, 10, 14 |
One-half letter grade for each unmet deadline |
| Internship Report |
End of last week of classes |
One-half letter grade |
| Student and Site Evaluations |
End of last week of classes |
One-half letter grade for each unmet deadline |
| Internship Debriefing Meeting |
A meeting will be arranged each semester |
Incomplete (I) grade in course |
Procedures
You enroll for the Internship in the same manner as any course. Arrangements for an Internship setting must be completed prior to the beginning of the semester in which the internship will be undertaken, and the form "Internship Arrangement" must be completed and signed by the internship site supervisor, your advisor, and yourself.
Taking Two Internships
You may take two internships, enrolling again in PSY4411 for the second one. However, the second internship must be taken in a different setting than the first in order to receive academic credit.
Grading
Internship (PSY4411) will be graded A,B,C,D, or F on the basis of the supervisor's ratings and appropriate performance of other requirements such as the written report and evaluation.
For information contact:
Dr. William Gabrenya, Ph.D., Director of Undergraduate Programs
School of Psychology, Florida Tech
150 W. University Blvd.
Melbourne, FL 32901
Phone 674-8104
FAX 674-7105
email:gabrenya@fit.edu
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