CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SACRAMENTO
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
Sociology 195/295: Internship
Coordinator, Professor Charles Varano, Amador 454D;
Phone: 278-6675, E-mail cvarano@csus.edu
I. GOALS OF THE COURSE
To learn the “ropes,” i.e., to acquire specific skills working in an organization.
To clarify your career goals, i.e., to find if you really want the career or occupation you have some
interest in.
To integrate your experiential learning in the internship with your academic or theoretical learning in
sociology and in the classroom. Thus, besides “learning the ropes” as an intern, you will also hopefully
be learning to look at the organization you are placed in more sociologically. You may also have the
opportunity of learning to become a problem-solver.
To fulfill the above goals you be expected to become a “packrat,” collecting everything you can about
your internship site. This may include, besides your own observations and field notes, interviews with
others who work at the site, organizational documents such as organizational charts, brochures, policy
manuals, committee minutes, etc.---anything that is public information. You should not collect
confidential information, files, or material that is not publicly available. You should get permission from
your supervisor before collecting documents.
Note: Internships can be paid or unpaid. However, the purpose of the internship is to provide you with an
opportunity to learn something new that relates to the sociology major in some way. The purpose of the
internship is not to provide you with academic credit for a job or occupation you have been doing for
employment for several months or years. It is not “work experience credit.”
II. STEPS TO TAKE TO ENROLL IN A SOCIOLOGY INTERNSHIP SOCIOLOGY 195
(UNDERGRADUATES) OR 295 (GRADUATES)
(1) LOCATE AN APPROPRIATE PLACEMENT FOR YOURSELF
A variety of agencies are looking for interns. Search for several that interest you in the internship file
folder or in the 2005 Community Services Directory which are available in the main sociology office.
Agencies must accept you, and your available hours must coincide with the hours for which they need
interns. Some agencies may require a training session before your internship begins. Note too that more
and more agencies now need to do a background check on interns, which means fingerprinting,
reference checking, and other searches. This will take time, often more than a month.
Once you decide on an agency, call the phone number listed. Indicate that you are a student in sociology,
seeking to be an intern. Ask to speak with an appropriate person if they are offering internships.
If you are successful, it is best to visit on site before deciding to accept the placement. You want to be
clear about what your assignment will be, what your duties and responsibilities will entail and most
importantly, whether or not you will learn something of importance and something related to the field of
sociology. Ask who your supervisor will be and what role they will play in your internship experience.
Note your superior will need to certify that your work has been satisfactory and also the number of hours
you worked in your placement. Your supervisor will be asked to fill out an internship evaluation
form on you and send it to your faculty advisor.
The number of hours required at the agency will vary with the number of academic units you are enrolled
in. Below is the scale for a fifteen-week semester:
1 unit of credit= 40-45 hours or 3 hours per week over a 15-week semester.
2 units of credit= 80-90 hours or 6 hours per week over a 15-week semester.
3 units of credit= 120-130 hours or 8 hours per week over a 15-week semester.
(2) FILL OUT THE REQUIRED PAPER WORK
Before you can enroll for credit, you must see the internship coordinator in sociology (Professor Charles
Varano, Amador 454D). He will assist you in filling out the required forms. Once the forms are
complete, Professor Varano will enroll you in either Sociology 195 or 295.
(3) BE ASSIGNED TO A SOCIOLOGY FACULY MEMBER WHO WILL BE YOUR INTERNSHIP
ADVISOR
Part of your internship experience will have an academic component. The Sociology Department will not
give credit for “just having an experience in an agency.” You will be asked to work with a faculty
member in the department on this academic component. This will require meeting with the faculty
several times during the semester, keeping field notes on various aspects of your experience, and writing
up a final report. The faculty member to whom you are assigned will be responsible for “grading” your
internship. INTERNSHIPS ARE GRADED CREDIT OR NO CREDIT ONLY. The internship
coordinator, Professor Varano, will assign you to a specific faculty member in the department.
After your initial meeting with your faculty advisory, which should occur within the first two weeks
of the semester, you will be expected to meet with your advisor a minimum of three times during
the semester. It is your responsibility to schedule these meetings. Some faculty will want you to see
you more than three times during the semester. BE SURE TO CONTACT YOUR FACULTY
ADVISOR IMMEDIATELY AFTER ENROLLING IN THE INTERNSHIP. Students who have
not contacted their faculty advisor by week 2 may be subject to administrative drop.
III. REQUIRED INTERNSHIP SEMINAR MEETINGS
As part of the requirements for academic credit, you must also meet two times during the
semester with other students taking internships to discuss your experience, share ideas and
thoughts, and reflect on what you are learning and how it relates to sociology. These seminar
meetings will provide you with an opportunity to reflect on your internship experience and help
you in preparing your internship paper. The seminars are required. You will not be able to
complete your internship unless you attend.
First Seminar Meeting: Initial Discussion of Your Internship with Other Students
You must attend one of the following times. You need only attend one of the these First Seminar
Meetings
Tuesday, September 28
Wednesday, September 29
3:00-4:00 PM
2:00-3:00 PM
Room 452 Amador Hall
Room 452 Amador Hall
Second Seminar Meeting: Final Discussion of Your Internship
You must attend one of the following times. You need only attend one of the these Second Seminar
Meetings
Tuesday, October 26
Wednesday, October 27
3:00-4:00 PM
2:00-3:00 PM
Room 452 Amador Hall
Room 452 Amador Hall
IV. REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION
In order to receive the grade of “credit” in your course from the faculty member you are assigned to, the
following must be completed and satisfactory:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Meet at scheduled times throughout the semester with your faculty advisor.
Attend all two of the internship seminars described above.
Complete your field notes and final paper satisfactorily.
Have your Agency Supervisor certify to your faculty advisor the number of hours you work in the
agency and that work in the agency was satisfactory (evaluation form).
Complete the appropriate number of hours for the academic credits you are seeking.
V.
FIELD NOTES AND FINAL PAPER
Although internships differ greatly, the faculty member to whom you are assigned will normally require
the following. Be certain you and your faculty advisor have agreed on what specifically you need to do
for each visit you have with your advisor during the semester and what the final paper will “look like”
and include.
Field Notes
You should keep a journal, diary, or field note of your internship experiences. It is best to keep a separate
notebook with your internships journal entries. Your faculty advisor will suggest entries and possible
broad topics that you might address in your field notes. Some of these entries should relate to the final
internship paper that is due at the end of the semester (see below). Along with your observations, you
might include interviews with persons in the organization you are working in. If you keep in rich journal,
your entries should greatly help you in writing the final internship report. Your journal notes must be
turned in either periodically or at the completion of your internship along with your final paper
(whichever your agree to with your faculty advisor. Failure to submit your journal notes may
result in a grade of Incomplete.
Along with your journal diary, you should collect any documents from your internships experience that
may be helpful in writing your final paper. You need to become a “packrat” collecting everything you
can about your internship site. This may include, besides your own observation and field notes,
interviews with other who work at the site, organizational documents such as organizational charts,
brochures, policy manuals, committee minutes, etc.---anything that is public information. You should not
collect confidential information, files, or material that is not publicly available. You should get
permission from your supervisor before collecting these documents. You should include these in an
appendix to the final paper.
Final Paper: Your final paper should address the following topics.
Introduction: Briefly describe how and why you choose this internship.
Organizational Structure: Introduce the organization and explain its purpose. Discuss what the
organization does, where it is located, the position (roles) that exist in it, the responsibilities associated
with these positions, and the levels of authority and hierarchy among them. Explain the organization’s
goal and how they are carried out.
Your duties: Describe the activities, tasks, and responsibilities of your position in the organization.
When and for how long were you there? What have you been doing during your time as an intern? Did
your duties change or remain the same?
Analysis of Your Interest: Reflect on your participation and experiences in the organization and on the
site. What did you learn? Were there any problems associated with your internship experience? Was it
different than you expected it to be?
Personal Evaluation: Critically evaluate your time as an intern in the organization or site. Did you learn
something of importance? If so, what? If not, why? Would you like to work for this organization—why
and/or why not? Would you organize that tasks you were assigned differently? What improvements, if
any, would you suggest for the internship process at this organization? Would you recommend your
internship to other?
Sociology Analysis: Select one central sociological concept of importance to you, such as role, status,
norm, social conflict, self, social stratification, inequality deviance, etc. Define the concept and show
how it was useful to you in gaining further understanding of your internship experience and the
organizational site you experienced.
NAME OF STUDENT _______________________
Dear Supervisor:
The Sociology Department Internship/Fieldwork Programs involve both on-site
supervision of the student and regular consultation throughout the semester between student and
academic advisor.
To assist us in the effective performance of our responsibilities, we would appreciate a
summary of the student’s progress and performance throughout the semester.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Charles Varano
Professor of Sociology
Telephone: 278-6675
How many hours did the student contribute to your organization during the semester?
120-150 ____
80-100 ____
40-50 ____
Was the work generally satisfactory?
Yes ____
No ____
Please mail this summary to Professor _________________, Sociology Department,
C.S.U.S., 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819-6005, by December 14, 2009.
Please use a separate page if you
would like to make additional comments
________________________
Name
_________________________
Position