Professional Practice / Internships

All FCS students are required to complete three hours of FCS 398 Professional Practice, with two exceptions:

- FCS Teacher Education students are exempt because they are required to complete a semester of STT 399 student teaching instead.

- FCS Apparel Design students have the option to do an FCS 398 internship; or instead take a substitute course, FCS 365, Apparel Collection Development.

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. See FCS advisor Richard Kane for additional sequence requirements. Placement is not guaranteed. The onus of responsibility is on the student for finding a professional practice site that is alligned with their career goal.

Student Requirements

Interview at potential professional practice sites.
Complete the application process using the resources on the FCS advising blackboard.
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 site 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 (3 credits) or 210 clock hours (4 credits) of paid or unpaid work divided equally over the course of the semester or summer term.
Provide an opportunity for the student to complete his/her goals for the 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 the student's faculty supervisor as necessary.

Faculty Supervisor Requirements

Confer with both the site 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)

Deadlines

The four-part Professional Practice application is available on the FCS Advising Blackboard.

The firm deadline for summer internship applications is April 14 every year. The deadline for spring internships is the last day of classes in the fall.

A completed FCS 398 application includes the cover page, Professional Practice Health Certification Insurance form, a current resume and a list of expected duties, responsibilities and anticipated learning outcomes in either paragraph or bullet point format.

Students may not register for FCS 398 via iCampus.
You will not be able to register until your application has been approved by the Professional Practice Coordinator, Richard Kane. Since the Coordinator does not review the applications until after the deadline, the student, their site supervisor, and assigned faculty supervisor can expect to receive a confirmation email once the deadline has passed and applicatons have been processed. The Coordinator and the Registrar's office will work together to register students into their assigned faculty supervisor's section of FCS 398.