UW-River Falls Psychology Department Internship Guidelines

Course Description PSYC 379 (1-3 cr.)

This internship program places select students in human service agencies, businesses, industries, or organizations to provide them with opportunities to apply their knowledge of psychological principles. The intern's duties and responsibilities will be tailored to the needs of the sponsoring organization and the background of the student. The internship site must be approved by the psychology department in advance of the work experience.

Prerequisites:  Students must have completed 60 semester credit hours (at least 20 credits in psychology) with a 2.5 overall GPA and obtain the consent of the department supervisor. An Internship Placement Agreement form must be completed by the student, the internship supervisor and by the agency.

Fifty hours of internship experience is required for each credit earned. A three-credit experience requires 150 hours of participation. Course grades will be determined by the department supervisor. The grade will reflect the quality of the internship performance as well as the quality of the written report submitted by the student.

Required Written Report:  The written report consists of a daily journal, a final summary analysis, and an Internship Evaluation form.

The student must keep a daily journal outlining his/her experiences, growth, frustrations, and application of academic learning in the internship setting. The journal should be self-reflective. Rather than simply listing activities, the focus should be on your experience of those activities. 

The final summary analysis is based on your recorded daily experiences and is an in-depth appraisal of the internship experience. The analysis will address questions like the following:  What went well or did not go well? Why or why not? What was the experience like for you? What would you have done differently? What have you learned about yourself? What emotions were raised by the experience? Was your training adequate? Did you receive the level of support you anticipated? What major things have you learned? How did you apply what you learned in class to the internship setting? In what ways could your experience have been improved?