Pictures from the Psychology Department
Internships

Psychology students have done internships (PSYC 499) in a number of settings (schools, nursing homes, day treatment centers, homes for emotionally disturbed adolescents, and infant stimulation programs, to mention only some). In our experience, internships have been most valuable for our students when we have been able to supervise them closely and exert quality control over the tasks which they perform. For those reasons, we require that any internships taken for psychology credit first be approved at a department meeting.

Approved Internships A number of internships have already received departmental approval. Descriptions of these (which include the specific prerequisite requirements) are available on the internship bulletin board on the second floor of Chandler Hall or at the bottom of this web page. If you wish to pursue any of these "approved" internships, see the faculty member(s) who is listed as the faculty supervisor. Please note that beyond the stated prerequisites for each internship, internship eligibility varies among faculty members in the department. If the faculty member agrees to accept you as an internship student, you will then have to fill out the proper internship forms which you must obtain from G.W. 305.

Get a New Internship Approved It may happen, however, that you are interested in doing an internship which has not yet received departmental approval. In that case, you should contact the departmental internship coordinator, who will discuss your proposal with you. In order to do such an internship, you will need to find a faculty supervisor and have the internship approved at a department meeting. Since all of this takes time, it is important that you plan ahead in thinking about internships.

Requirements Since a particular faculty member cannot always supervise all the students interested in doing a particular internship, procedures for accepting a student as an intern have been established. Students applying for an internship must have completed at least 58 hours of college credit, be in good academic standing, have completed 12 hours in psychology beyond Psyc 100, and have met all the requirements for a particular internship. In addition, they may be required to meet with the faculty member and/or agency supervisor, and to furnish a statement of why they are interested in that internship. If more than one student applies for a particular internship, that internship may be filled on a competitive basis.

Registration & Forms Students sign up for an internship by registering for Psyc 499. Before registering for this course, you will need to fill out some forms which can be obtained from G.W. 305. In addition, you will need to obtain written permission from your faculty supervisor and from the chairperson of the department.

Contract Once a student is accepted as an intern, he or she will develop a contract with the faculty supervisor regarding the number of credit hours (1 to 6, depending upon the number of clock hours) to be assigned, the duties and requirements of the agency, the requirements of the faculty supervisor, and the criteria by which the faculty supervisor will assign a grade to the internship. Note that although an internship can be taken for a maximum of six credit hours, only three of these may be applied toward the Psychology major.
Note: If a student wishes to participate in an internship for 4 credits in a single semester, the student must submit a letter showing what they are doing at the site and academically to justify earning the extra credit. This letter will be attached to the internship contract and should be signed by the site supervisor and the faculty sponsor to show support. The student must also work an additional 42 hours at the site for a total of 168 hours; however, working the extra hours alone does not justify the extra credit. The work must be very substantive, both at the site and academically.

Regulations Because the procedures for registering for an internship are different than for other classes and depend on the number of hours taken, you should read the section on "Internships, Academic" in the Dictionary of Academic Regulations carefully and follow the steps outlined exactly. UMW's Internship web page is also a valuable resource.

Advising In general, it is good to discuss your internship plans with your advisor at least one semester ahead of time. One final word of caution: Don't assume that an internship has been approved by the department just because you see it on a list in G.W. Hall. Always check with your advisor or the departmental internship coordinator to make sure that the internship has really been approved by the department.

List of Internships

The department offers a wide variety of internship placements. The following is a list of internships that have already been approved. Information on these internships can also be found on the internship board on the second floor of Chandler Hall.

To learn more about the different internships available, click on one of the internship titles in the submenu. If you are interested in creating an internship at a site not listed, see Dr. Steckler for information.

Internship Categories
Autism
Child/Adolescent
School/Education
Elderly
Families and Women
Domestic Violence/Abuse
Mental Retardation
Alcohol and Drugs
Sexual Assault
Criminal Justice/Law
Health
Counseling/Mental Health
Advocate Programs
Social Service
Community
Human Resources
Animal