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Sociology & Criminal Justice

Applying for an Internship

Internships

Criteria for students seeking a sociology internship

  1. The student must have a cumulative GPA of 2.5. 
  2.  The student must have completed SOC 200. 
  3.  The student must have the approval of their Academic Advisor. 
  4.  The student must have the approval of the placement agency supervisor.

Steps to Obtaining an Internship

  1. Step One: locate a potential internship either through the Internship office (career services) or through a contact that one of our staff may have.
  2. Step Two: In order for a student to apply for our program's 450 Internship, the student will meet with a faculty member and establish a contract in which the goals of the internship and methods of achieving are established and clearly stated in writing. The legitimacy of the goals will be evaluated by the potential faculty advisor as to their applicability to sociology.
  3. Step Three: Apply for a potential internship position which meets the following program criteria for its suitability as a sociology internship:
    1. The internship placement must involve an opportunity for the acquisition and/or application of sociological knowledge (i.e., research, computer analysis, cultural awareness).
    2. The placement agency must be able to provide field supervision of the student.
    3. The placement must involve an area of career interest to the student.

Internship workload

  1. There is an expectation that the internship supervising faculty member and the student establish a reading program and/or list which are relevant to the student's specific internship. For example, an internship at a youth halfway house might include a reading list that includes work in the area of deviance.
  2. Regular interaction with the internship supervisor will be expected and the focus of the interaction will be to evaluate the progress of the internship as a learning experience. Keeping a field journal which relates the student's daily activities to the specified goals of the internship may be sufficient for faculty and student interaction; especially when the student's internship is located away from the La Crosse area.
  3. Some form of written work will be required of all interns. The written work may take the form of a research paper or a project report. In any case, the written work should demonstrate the ability of the student to apply and/or use sociological concepts and theory to a topic related to the internship.

Philosophy

The participation in an internship is a valuable sociological learning experience for the student and faculty member.

  1. The sociological learning experience can occur in both formal classroom and informal contexts. 
  2. Internships are an excellent vehicle for conveying sociological knowledge outside of a classroom setting. 
  3. The approval of an internship will be dependent on its value as a vehicle for a sociological learning experience.