Internships / Professional Practice

All FCS students are required to complete three hours of FCS 398 Professional Practice except those in the teacher education program who complete a semester of student teaching.

Course Description

A planned and supervised work experience in government, community, business or industry.  Sometimes called internship/work experience/cooperative education.

Purposes

• To provide the student with on-the-job work experience that will allow for a variety of management/supervisory learning opportunities.
• To allow the student to apply his or her capabilities and academic learning on the job.
• To develop interpersonal skills.
• To develop positive/professional attitudes.
• To encourage closer cooperation between the FCS Department and government/business/agency/industry.

Course Prerequisites

Junior/Senior standing (min. 74 hours completed).  FCS 200 and 50 percent of your sequence course requirements.  2.0 GPA on date of application is required.  This experience may be repeated once.  See advisor for additional sequence requirements.  Placement is not guaranteed.  

Student Requirements

• Interview for the professional practice.
• Complete the application process.
• Complete either 160 work hours for a 3 credit experience or 210 work hours for a 4 credit experience (3 credit hours of FCS 398 is required but if you need the extra senior hour for graduation requirements you may opt to take it for 4 hours).
• Download the Professional Practice Manual (pdf format)
• Work cooperatively with work supervisor.
• Punctual attendance with exception of illness, in which case the student will follow company policy.
• Complete required assignments including logs, readings, and summary report on schedule and submit to faculty supervisor
• Complete a project at or on the job site to be determined between the student and the supervisor.
• In addition, graduate students must complete a graduate research report.

Employer Requirements

• Interview student.
• Provide the student with 160 or 210 clock hours of work divided equally over the 16 week fall/spring semester, or 8 or 12 week summer term.
• Provide an opportunity for the student to complete his/her goals for internship.
• Provide an experienced supervisor to work with the student.
• Identify special project(s) for student to complete.
• Assist student with locating appropriate professional journals.
• Complete two evaluations (midterm and exit) of student's work progress and consult with faculty supervisor as necessary.

Faculty Supervisor Requirements

Confer with both the work supervisor and the student as necessary and visit the work site if feasible.  Read and critique the student's written materials.  Respond to needs as indicated by student logs.  Assign a grade for the professional practice experience. (top)

Applications are available in the FCS Office (Turner Hall 144) and here in printable pdf format.  Applications are due in the FCS office by the deadline date(s) indicated below. The deadline for summer and fall is April 1. Please also include the Professional Practice Health Certification Insurance form (downloadable from the Illinois State Student Insurance site) with the application.

How to register for FCS 398 via the iCampus Portal registration system.  
You will not be able to register until your application has been approved by the Professional Practice Coordinator.  Since the Coordinator does not review the applications until after the deadline, do not expect to receive your letter until after the deadline has passed.  Once you receive your approval letter you may register for the course via iCampus.  Determine whether you want to take FCS 398 for 3 or 4 hours of credit using the above guidelines.