Overview
Occidental College offers a variety of internship opportunities. These include internships with community groups, public agencies, businesses, and social justice advocacy organizations, among others. The opportunities include course-related internships that provide connections to community organizations; career-oriented internships offered through the Hameetman Career Center in all occupational areas of interest; summer research internships connected to various programs, such as through the International Programs Office, the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute (UEPI), the Undergraduate Research Center, the Center for Community-Based Learning, and other College entities; study abroad internships offered through various study abroad programs; and community engagement internships based on long term partnerships that are linked to courses and programs supported by the Center for Community-Based Learning, the student Office of Community Engagement, and UEPI. Internships are offered in Los Angeles, throughout the U.S., and in countries abroad such as China. Internships represent a crucial component of Occidental College’s mission and vision associated with community engagement, collaborative relationships, critical thinking and reflection, participant observation, skill development, and career discernment and training. Each of those opportunities are described below.
Academic Opportunities
Several courses and practicums provide valuable internship experiences or fieldwork experience. Academic practicums offering four units of credit provide faculty mentorship and allow students to thoroughly integrate applied learning in organizations of interest within the context of a given course. For example, the Urban and environmental policy department offers a course on “Community Organizing” that includes an internship requirement with a community-based organization working on a key community objective. The politics department offers a course providing internships and linkages with public interest law firms; Psychology offers fieldwork for psychology and social services-bound students, and several departments have come together to create a Public Health cluster with courses that include internships with places like health clinics and with such partners as promotoras (community health workers). These academic/course based opportunities, in turn, can lead to summer internships as well as continuing ties (and even future employment) with the partner community groups and organizations.
Career Exploration Opportunities
The Hameetman Career Center (HCC) supports internships that integrate knowledge and theory learned in the classroom and applied in a professional setting. Internship opportunities are available in all occupational sectors and may or may not directly correlate with a student’s major. Internships are an opportunity to create learning experiences for the student by providing exposure in a career field or job function of interest. Through diverse occupational exposure students can explore various careers, thereby greatly enhancing their progression towards career discernment while building transferable skills toward graduate and employment opportunities. Students can secure nonprofit, governmental, and for-profit opportunities. Additionally, the HCC sponsors a broad-based, funded internship program in Los Angeles and Portland, that places students in full-time professional internships for ten weeks during the summer. Through the HCC, Occidental College offers both a two unit (INT 200) and a zero unit (INT 100) option for students. The HCC coordinates both courses and supports students during their INT 200 and INT 100 internship (see Career Center INT Program below).
Community-Based Learning (CBL) Opportunities
Internships supported by the Center for Community Based Learning (CCBL) allow students to continue work initiated as part of a community based learning and/or research course. Internships are defined in partnership with community partners, faculty, and the CCBL. A CCBL internship allows students to continue to develop skills in community engagement, community based research, and other professional skills, while providing ongoing support for projects that cannot be completed within a single semester. Depending on the focus and structure of the internship, a student can earn 2 units through the HCC internship program and receive a stipend from the CCBL. CCBL also supports community engaged courses through its Education in Action (EIA) program where students receive a stipend to support faculty in facilitating the community aspect of the course.
International Opportunities
Over half of Occidental’s four-dozen semester and summer study abroad programs include opportunities for internships or community-engaged projects. Participants test theories, concepts, and competencies encountered on campus in dynamic intercultural settings and set a course for global citizenship. Most earn academic credit and some tackle significant research projects. From Amsterdam to Rabat, from Cape Town to Lima, from Tokyo to Beijing, participants expect to grow in their capacity to lead in a complex world, contribute to solving transnational problems, compete in the global workforce, and thrive in intercultural situations. Students consider community engagement abroad among their most power learning experiences.
Hameetman Career Center INT Internship Program
Internships for credit must be educational experiential opportunities that meet the criteria established by Occidental and approved by the Hameetman Career Center (HCC). Students must be able to complete a minimum of 80 hours per semester of experiential learning in order to enroll in either internship course and receive credit (INT 100 or INT 200). To meet this requirement, students are advised to register within the first two weeks of the semester; however, internships may be approved until mid-semester. Students must register in the appropriate internship course (see below) by listed deadlines. For either course option, it is required that students have sophomore, junior, and senior and at least part-time, registered in at least six units, status. Additionally, students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better at the time of application for internship credit. Only CR/NC grades will be given for internships. Students are only allowed to enroll in one internship course per semester. All students enrolled in an internship, whether for two units or zero units, must complete a reflective essay and internship evaluation, as instructed by the HCC. The HCC will also request two performance evaluations (mid and final) from the listed on-site internship supervisor. Students are obliged to notify HCC , faculty supervisor, and on-site supervisor before dropping or withdrawing from an internship as well as submit the appropriate paperwork to the Office of the Registrar. Retroactive enrollment will not be approved and credit not be issued even in cases where an internship has been completed. Students enrolling in an internship course for the summer will be charged reduced fees for units. See the summer website or consult the HCC, the Office of the Registrar, or the Student Accounts Office for fee information.
On-Campus Internship Policy
In an interest to provide increased opportunities for students studying in Los Angeles, the institution is authorizing on-campus internship opportunities that would allow students to intern on campus and receive credit through the Hameetman Career Center‚ Internship Program (INT 100 and INT 200). On-campus internships are distinct from the institution‚ Work Study Program and various on-campus leadership programs by providing project based exposure in professional occupational areas, whereby the primary goal is that the student intern is the beneficiary of professional learning. On-campus departments wishing to create internship positions or willing to host a student intern by student request, must work with the HCC to assure that they are developing an internship opportunity that ascribes to the department’s criteria. To assure student learning of the highest caliber, the department’s philosophy is to set on-campus internships to the same rigorous standard ascribed to internships available in for-profit and public service organizations. For a complete outline of requirements and policy surrounding on-campus opportunities, please contact the Hameetman Career Center.
The College recognizes two categories of internships:
- Two-unit internship (INT 200) - The maximum credits awarded for an internship will be two units. The total units earned through internships may not exceed four units (students may take additional internships for zero units, which will appear on the transcript). In addition to the criteria listed above, the student must secure an on-campus faculty supervisor to assign, supervise, and approve the academic component of the internship. The faculty supervisor must be a full-time faculty member on-campus. The reflective component and performance evaluations, coordinated by the HCC, are shared with the faculty supervisor and may be used at the discretion of the faculty supervisor when grading the internship.
- Zero-unit internship (INT 100) – This course is offered for no credits, but the internship will be listed on the student’s transcript. Course is coordinated and monitored by the HCC. Student and internship must meet the criteria listed above. Students failing to participate in the reflective component coordinated by the HCC will not receive credit for their internship.