Selection Process

***Students should note that the HD internship program has been temporarily suspended, due to pandemic-related concerns.***

Please note that the selection process for internships begins the semester before you start your internship. It is imperative to begin the internship selection process well before the start of your internship, in large part because the agencies with which we work often require you to be interviewed, pass background checks, and complete other requirements.

1. Ensure that you meet the prerequisites for the program. You must be a declared human development major. You must have completed less than 4 internship credits. No more than 4 internship credits can be counted towards the major.   
2. Attend the required informational meeting. In this meeting, you will learn more about the available internship opportunities as well as the selection process. The meeting will be held in the last month of classes of every semester. Its timing and location will be advertised over email, in select classes, and through other means. Attending this meeting is required for all students intending to begin or continue an internship in the semester that follows the informational meeting. So, for example, if you intend to begin an internship in the spring 2018, you must attend a meeting in the final month of class in the fall of 2017. The date of each semester's internship informational meeting will be communicated through the HD listserv and will be posted near the HD office (Stevenson 3119). It is the student's responsibility to be aware of the date, time and location of the informational meeting.   
3. Interview with the HD internship coordinator. In this meeting, the HD internship coordinator will learn more about your internship plans, your career aspirations, etc. Only students who attended the required informational session will be contacted to interview. This interview will serve as the basis for making decisions about internships. You will be contacted afterwards about whether and where you have been matched with an internship.
4. Contact and apply to your internship site. Although you receive SSU credit for internships, they are nevertheless primarily managed by the institutions with which we partner. Each institution has its own application process separate from the selection process managed by the HD internship coordinator. Most of them require some kind of interview as well as a background check. It is important to start this process well before the semester in which you begin your internship. In fact, you should initiate this process immediately after being contacted about being matched with an internship.   
5. Complete a University Internship Agreement Form and submit your paperwork. Before registering for internship credit (i.e., HD 496), you must complete a University Internship Agreement Form. You will need to work with the HD internship coordinator and your on-site supervisor to complete this form. 

It is recommended that you begin the process of filling out this form as you complete step number 4 above. In all cases, however, the completed version of this form is due to the HD internship coordinator by the end of the second week of classes of the semester in which the internship is to be completed. So, you will need to have this form submitted by the end of the second week of classes.

Please note that, in order to receive internship credit, you do not need to pass through the regular registration process. Once your completed University Internship Agreement form is submitted to the HD internship coordinator, you will automatically be enrolled in HD 496.