Reviewed August 2009

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Awarding Academic Unit Credit for Internships

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I. Where can students find information on internships and practicum classes?

Contact the HCD internship coordinator at the address and telephone number listed above or read the informational fliers posted on the bulletin board and displayed in the wall rack near 1303 Hart Hall. II. What's the difference between an internship and a practicum class? Internships are courses numbered 92, 192, 292 for P/NP grades only, there are no class meetings, and student's take responsibility for finding HCD faculty who will sponsor their internship. HCD practicum classes are courses numbered HDE 141, 142, and 143, and are letter graded. Practicum classes meet once a week for 2 hours and require field work/internships for a minimum of 6 hours per week. The instructor of the practicum class is the "faculty sponsor" for all students enrolled in the class. III. What's the difference between an internship and special study? Internships involve three persons (the student, the faculty sponsor, and the field site supervisor) and special study involves two persons (the student and the faculty sponsor). Internships offer students opportunities to work in association with full-time professional administrators and educators in the public sector (off-campus agencies, organizations, and /or schools) on projects that they would not directly encounter in the course of their formal academic training or through their participation in the more traditional extra-curricular activities on campus. Special study usually takes place within university departments and involves undergraduate student research, or student support of a faculty person's research project in exchange for academic unit credit and the opportunity to learn how research projects are developed and conducted. Both internships and special study require the completion of HCD contracts and are graded P/NP, only. IV. How can students find field placements for practicum classes and/or internships? The HCD internship coordinator and the campus Internship & Career Center coordinators have developed (pre-screened) field placements/internships for both graduate and undergraduate students. HCD internship vacancy listings are accessible when Hart Hall is open to students. Listings are located on the bulletin board near 1303 Hart Hall. Internship & Career Center (ICC) listings can be accessed via the web or students can visit the ICC in person, 2nd floor, South Hall. V. How many units of internship and practicum class credit will count toward student majors or graduate work? Read the HCD informational flier titled, " Unit Credit: Internships and Practicum Classes." VI. How can students find out if their jobs and/or field placements qualify for academic unit credit? Read the HCD informational flier titled, "Field Work: Qualifying Factors." VII. How can students identify HCD faculty who may agree to sponsor their 92, 192, or 292 course work? Read the HCD informational fliers titled, "CRD/IAD Faculty Sponsors," or "HDE Faculty Sponsors." These lists are located in the hallway wall rack, near 1303 Hart Hall. VIII. Do HCD faculty sponsor internships for students who are not HCD majors or graduate students? Faculty give priority to HCD majors and graduate students within the department. Students from other majors are invited to enroll in HCD practicum classes (HDE 141, 142, 143) when their academic backgrounds meet class pre- requisites. Practicum classes require a minimum of 6 hrs/ per week of field work (for 10 weeks). IX. Can students develop their own internships? Yes, if all university and HCD policies and procedures are followed. Students need to discuss their proposed field placements/internships with the HCD internship coordinator for review of policies and course work documentation procedures, time lines and due dates. Read the HCD internship informational flier titled, "Field Work: Qualifying Factors." X. How do HCD internships differ from those offered by the Internship & Career Center (ICC)? The HCD internship office is a MUCH smaller operation than the campus-wide Internship & Career Center (ICC). The ICC has several internship coordinators and offers internship opportunities to students from all departments across campus. HCD internships are specially screened to include only those that relate to HCD course work and career interests of HCD students. XI. Can students receive academic unit credit for field placements/internships obtained through the ICC? Yes, if the internships meet university and department criteria for the awarding of academic unit credit.

Read the HCD internship informational flier titled, "Field Work: Qualifying Factors."

 XII. What is transcript notation? Transcript notation is a permanent note on a student's UCD transcript listing the "type" of internship completed during any one academic qtr. The Internship and Career Center, 2nd fl., South Hall, is the only campus unit authorized to provide this special service for students. To receive transcript notation students must meet with an internship coordinator from the ICC, request transcript notation forms, comply with the listed procedures, and meet due-date deadlines. XIII. Can students receive academic unit credit for observational internships? Some clinical/medical internships are observational and offer no "hands-on" experience (with human beings) due to medical insurance regulations, or state laws/policies regarding certification, licensing, etc. In observational field placements, only a small number of hours can be legitimately counted. In such cases, faculty sponsors do not count all the observational hours available to students. Instead, faculty assign (in place of the field work hours) reading, research work, and report writing, commensurable with the total number of hours that equal the unit credit requested. XIV. Can students receive academic unit credit for paid internships? Yes, however, academic credit is not necessarily granted for ALL paid hours worked by students. If some paid hours are used to provide work in routine service responsibilities, then this time is not related to students' educational learning experiences, and as such, does not qualify for academic unit credit. Unit credit is awarded for the academic work associated with internship field placements, and not the field experience itself. XV. Can students receive academic credit for participation in UCD student activities, student clubs, or student government? Central to the educational purpose of HCD internships for academic unit credit, is the notion that students contact agencies, organizations, or schools and work with professional administrators or educators on projects they would not directly encounter in the course of their formal academic training or though the more traditional extra-curricular activities on campus. Activities such as student government/lobbying, ASUCD related programs, campus department club work, fraternity and sorority office holders, intramural sports, and student sponsored events (i.e., Whole Earth Day, Picnic Day) should be undertaken for their own worth, without expectation that academic credit will be awarded. In these types of activities, volunteer responsibilities are to the students whom they represent, and not to academic faculty or career professionals.

Read the HCD internship informational flier titled, "Field Work: Qualifying Factors."

 XVI. When students miss the "ADD" deadline, what are their options? Read the HCD informational flier titled, "Policy Statement: Department of Human & Community Development." XVII. How can students with incompletes ("I" grades) have the grades changed to P/NP or S/U ? Students should first talk to the faculty person who sponsored their course work. When students have met both HCD contract paper work requirements and the academic course work requirements, then students should ask their faculty sponsor to request an "Incomplete Grade Change," form from Linda Mijangos, Advising Assistant, 1303 Hart Hall.
 
 
 

DEPARTMENT of HUMAN & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (HCD)

Sharon McDonell, Internship Developer/ Placement Interviewer - CRD, HDE, & IAD Internships

1303 Hart Hall, University of California, Davis 95616 Tel. 530/752-1321 Email: hcdinternships@ucdavis.edu
 
 

This page was last updated on Sep 27, 2007

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