Faculty Director: Dr. Allison Chappell, BAL 6006, achappel@odu.edu
Office Hours: TBA
Course number: SOC/CRJS 368 (depending on your major)
Section number: Varies depending on number of hours and location (on campus, TTN, etc.)
Grade scale: Pass/Fail
Class meetings: By appointment
Eligibility: Must be a SOC or CRJS major, a junior or senior, and have a 2.0 GPA

1. Resume approval. Each student must have their resume reviewed and approved by Alice Jones or Matthew Myers in the Career Management Center (BAL 1006; http://www.odu.edu/ao/cmc/) prior to applying to an internship. Please take a rough draft of your resume to your appointment (call 683-4388 or email cmcal@odu.edu for an appointment.)

2. Find an internship. There are three ways to find an internship.

a. The Career Management Center (CMC) maintains a database (called e-recruiting) of available internships in the Hampton Roads area. You must contact CMC in order to obtain the password to access the database.
b. Many students find their own internships. Students are encouraged to contact agencies and organizations that relate to their major to find out if they offer internships.
c. Finally, the Faculty Director (Dr. Chappell) may know of internship opportunities that will interest you. Contact her to find out about agencies currently looking for interns.
d. Note: Paid internships are allowed. Interns can be paid as long as the internship is unrelated to the student's prior work history and is temporary in nature. However, few agencies have paid internships available.

3. Internship Approval. Regardless of how you find your internship, it must be approved by the Faculty Director. The best way to do this is to email Dr. Chappell a detailed description of the roles, responsibilities, duties, etc. that you will have at your internship. You will receive an email back stating whether your internship is approved; keep this email for your records.

*Internships must relate to your major and require you to be "in the field" learning skills that will increase your marketability upon graduation. In other words, internships that require clerical work (paperwork, answering the phone, etc.) will NOT be approved. All internships must be approved before work can begin.

4. Decide on the number of hours that you want to work at your internship. Each credit hour you register for is worth 50 hours of work. You are required to register for at least 3 credit hours and work 150 hours during the semester (about ten hours per week), but may count up to 6 credit hours of internship toward your upper level major requirements (as elective credit).

5. Register for the course. You must receive permission from either the Faculty Director (Dr. Chappell) or the CMC before registering for the course. Once you have an approved resume and internship, please contact us and request permission to register.

6. Complete Learning Contract. The contract will be due to Dr. Chappell (with copies to the CMC) about a month after the semester begins (date provided on syllabus). It is available here: http://www.odu.edu/ao/cmc/al/info.shtml#intern. The learning contract must be completed and signed by the student and the field supervisor (supervisor at your internship).

7. Keep track of your time. Students are required to keep a time sheet documenting hours worked. The timesheet must be signed by the internship supervisor and turned in at the end of the semester.

8. Keep a daily journal. Students are required to write in a journal every day that they work. This is more than a general description of your daily activities; it is critical reflection of the work you are doing in light of what you have learned in your coursework. You should apply theory and other knowledge you have gained in your major to the work you are doing at your internship.

9. Write a research paper. Each student is required to complete a research paper on a topic that relates to the internship. The paper should be organized in two parts: the first part is a traditional literature review, and the second part requires you to discuss your experiences at your internship in light of the research you have reviewed in the first part of the paper. You are expected to meet with the Faculty Director (Dr. Chappell) at least once during the semester to discuss your paper. More details will follow regarding the research paper.

10. Evaluations. Students and supervisors are mailed an electronic evaluation by the CMC toward the end of the semester. This must be completed and submitted online.

11. Update your resume. Before you turn in your final materials, you must update your resume with your new work experience. Turn in the updated resume with your final materials.

12. Turn everything in. You must turn in four things to the CMC on the due date: 1. Updated resume, 2. Signed timesheet, 3. Journal, and 4. Research paper.

13. Work hard and have fun!