The University of California-Irvine Professional Internship Program in the School of Social Sciences provides undergraduate students an opportunity to gain knowledge, skills, and abilities from an internship experience in the professional industry of their choice. Students should approach an internship with the goal of gaining as much professional experience as possible in a variety of areas, always functioning as a professional and applying his or her academic training to the internship. The intern is expected to conform to the normal employee policies of the cooperating organization, complete assigned tasks, and actively support the agency's mission. Time-off, whether emergency or otherwise, should be requested from and approved by the cooperating organization, as well as the course instructor.
Students participating in the program receive academic credit for their efforts at the interning agency, satisfying the compensatory requirements outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Students undertake an off-campus supervised activity for 50- or 100-hours, receiving 2- or 4-units of academic credit, respectively.
In addition to the internship experience, students take a Professional Internship (SocSci 197) course, meeting regularly with the course instructor and other peer interns to discuss and build skills related to leadership, professionalism, and management. The purpose of the course is to develop the attitudes and business practices that employers and graduate admissions desire in potential applicants. The program consists of five sessions, meeting once, every-other week during the academic year, and once a week during each summer session. Each course is graded on a Pass/No-Pass basis, and each student may take the course for up to 8-units as an undergradate. Course topics include:
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