Internship and Field Exploration Programs

Return to: Undergraduate Departments and Programs

Jackie Baker, M.S., Director

Saint Mary’s University supports field exploration and internship experiences as integral parts of its curriculum. Such experiences enable students to earn academic credit for participating in structured, supervised learning experiences that are generally held off-campus. The internship and field exploration program provides carefully designed experiences that offer students opportunities for professional and personal development as they apply theories and concepts learned in the classroom to a professional setting. Such opportunities also help students explore and develop personal aptitudes, abilities and interests in relation to their career choice. By participating in this program, students become self-directed learners who gain valuable hands-on work experiences and access to different resources and situations not easily obtained or available in the campus setting.

Field Exploration

A field exploration experience is a planned work experience for academic credit that provides students with the opportunity to explore a field and/or major and gain basic knowledge in a work environment. Generally, this experience involves observation rather than hands-on activities and is typically part-time and unpaid. Students must have completed a minimum of 24 credit hours and have a minimum 2.000 cumulative GPA to participate in a field exploration experience. Students may earn 1 to 3 credits for a field exploration, with a maximum of 17 credits earned for any combination of internship and field exploration experiences. All field exploration experiences must be pre-approved by the student’s academic advisor and the director of internships. Students may meet with the director of internships and/or faculty members to identify possible field exploration sites. Questions regarding field exploration programs should be directed to the director of internships.

Internships

An internship is a planned work experience for academic credit supervised by a qualified professional in a real work environment. This experience integrates a student’s academic and career interests with hands-on work experience. An internship may be either part-time or full-time and either paid or unpaid. Students must have completed a minimum of 56 credit hours, have a minimum 2.000 cumulative GPA, and a minimum 2.000 major GPA to participate in an internship. Internships are taken through the department in which the student’s major is offered. Students may earn 1 to 17 credits in an internship, with a maximum of 17 credits for any combination of internship and field exploration experiences. The number of internship credits for which a student registers is based on several factors, including departmental curriculum requirements, duration of the internship and the student’s time commitment, the student’s concurrent course load, the number of elective credits desired, and the credits previously earned through experiential education. Unless specific departmental guidelines have been established, the distribution between graded and ungraded internship credits is 3 credits graded, with remaining credits graded as Pass/No Credit. The academic department determines the number of internship credits applicable to the fulfillment of an academic major. All internships must be pre-approved by the student’s academic advisor and the director of internships.

Internships are arranged on an individual basis for students in a field compatible with their academic major, interests, skills and career goals. Internships are generally completed in the United States, although international internships are also an option for students. In the past, students have interned in Ireland, Spain and Guatemala. Organizations such as IBM, Walt Disney World, St. Paul Police Department, Mayo Clinic, Fastenal Co., among others, have teamed up with Saint Mary’s to provide students the opportunity to gain hands-on work experience before graduating from college. Students can intern full-time or part-time at a location of their choice.

HECUA Internship Program

HECUA (the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs) and SMU have developed a unique educational collaboration that engages students in exceptional learning opportunities. HECUA’s semester-long program includes classroom learning and a community-based internship. Students may choose a program that is held in the United States or abroad for a month, a summer, or a semester. The focus of each program is social change in urban settings. By partnering with exceptional community resources, HECUA can better engage students in learning about current social realities and strategies for social change. These internship partners supervise students, involve them in community projects, provide direction for study projects, and often serve as resources in student and faculty seminars.

HECUA offers six outstanding programs in the Twin Cities: Writing for Social Change, Environmental Sustainability, Inequality in America, Art for Social Change, Making Media, Making Change, and Agriculture and Justice.

Writing for Social Change: The Personal, the Political, and the Power of the Written Word

(fall semester)

This program explores the ways creative writers and literature impact communities and examines the role creative writers and literature play in addressing pressing social issues. Writing for Social Change combines critical, analytical seminars, creative writing workshops, field study, and a professional internship with a Twin Cities nonprofit literary arts organization, or K–12 school in need of reading/writing tutors to give students an integrated, experiential learning opportunity.

Environmental Sustainability: Science, Public Policy, and Community Action

(fall semester)

This semester program gives students the opportunity to learn the science behind key environmental issues, explore the intersections between social and environmental justice, and participate in public policy and community–based strategies to achieve sustainability. Rather than simply outlining the vast challenges we face, this program gives students meaningful ways to translate what they are learning into hopeful practice and to find their place in a vibrant mosaic of local actors working to build more resilient and just communities and systems. The program includes field experiences that focus on basic ecosystem evaluation. Short trips throughout the semester offer opportunities to integrate theory and practice.

Inequality in America: Policy, Community, and the Politics of Empowerment

(fall and spring semester)

This program focuses on issues of poverty and inequality and ways to address these critical issues. Students explore key institutions that impact urban poverty and inequality, namely the economy, housing patterns, education, and welfare. In addition, issues of urban sprawl, regional segregation, and institutional discrimination are explored. Students are empowered as they examine and utilize an array of strategies to address inequality and rebuild the region more equitably. Students develop practical skills in organizing and gain valuable tools for social change.

Art for Social Change: Intersections of Art, Identity, and Advocacy

(spring semester)

This program focuses on arts, culture, and social change. Students discover the many ways that art and culture can and do impact communities and explore the role of creative work-performance, writing, visual art, etc., in addressing pressing social issues. Students also gain valuable tools for social change and vital connections in the community. A vibrant arts community flourishes in the Twin Cities; a wide spectrum of organizations and individuals representing diverse cultural experiences and perspectives provides a highly creative milieu in which students explore the multiple roles of art and artists in society.

Making Media, Making Change: Digital Technologies, Storytelling, and Activism

(spring semester)

This program combines psychology, art, and media studies to help deepen critical understanding of how mass media and emerging digital technologies both limit and organize struggles for social justice. This interdisciplinary approach will provide the theoretical framework that is necessary to explore thoughtful and relevant questions about personal and collective activism in the digital age. The program will equip students with the skills they need to be competent creators of digital art and digital media for the purposes of creating change.

Agriculture and Justice: Building a Sustainable Food System

(spring semester)

This program uses interdisciplinary and field-based methods to dig deep into the food system, exploring the roots of U.S. land ownership and labor practices, unpacking economics and policies, and providing a place for each student to explore his or her role in creating a sustainable future. Through first-hand experience, students explore topics such as multinational agricultural production, processing and marketing, and youth development through growing and marketing local produce. Students analyze the environmental, economic, political, social, and cultural issues that define our food system.

Washington Center Internship Program

The Washington Center Internship Program combines real-world work experience with academic learning in a unique environment that fosters success and achievement. For one semester, students can work and earn college credit in their chosen academic field in the heart of the nation’s capitol, Washington, D.C. Internships can be arranged in government agencies or in private non-profit organizations and are available for all majors. For additional information visit the career services and internships office or www.twc.edu.

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