Field Internships FAQ

Please contact your Placement Specialist if you have questions about your placement process and have not yet begun an internship.

Please contact your Field Liaison. Field Liaisons are adjunct faculty members who support students who have already started placement. They are also your field seminar instructor. 

Please contact your Student Success Advisor for academic plan related questions.

You will complete all 900 required field hours in two separate community agency settings, typically moving to a different agency after the completion of your Foundation Year placement to complete your Concentration Year placement elsewhere (see the Place of Employment/Duplicate section for information on remaining at the same agency for all 900 hours) . Your internship will typically begin the quarter after you begin classes. Click here for more information on this option.

Your Placement Specialist will contact you approximately 90–120 days prior to your internship start date to schedule your required Placement Welcome Call. During your call, your placement specialist will share more information about the placement process, submitting referrals and important placement policies. This call will also provide an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have. 

You can expect to be placed at a qualified, faculty-approved site at any time before your placement start date—there is no “standard” placement timeline, as each student’s situation is unique. The process can generally take anywhere from four to 10 weeks.

You will hear from your Placement Specialist before or around 120 days prior to your agency-based internship being scheduled to start. Your agency-based internship will follow your completion of your Virtual Field Experience (VFX)

You will begin your virtual field internship on the first day of your VFX course. You will start your community based internship the quarter following the end of the two-quarter course, completing the remaining 200 foundation hours + all 500 concentration hours for a total of 700 hours. 

Foundation Year students are required to complete a minimum of 400 internship hours over the course of four academic quarters. Students should plan on interning about 10 hours per week at their placement sites. Please note that if you come in on the accelerated academic plan track you will complete the 400 hours over the course of three academic quarters by completing 13.5 hours per week.

If you are not an accelerated academic track student but are interested in expediting your internship hours (completing the 400 hours over the course of three academic quarters doing 13.5 hours/week), please connect with your placement specialist for further discussion. There are financial considerations and paperwork involved in the process of moving your field credits into a three quarter set up over the typical four. 

Concentration Year students are required to complete a minimum of 500 internship hours over the course of four academic quarters. Students should plan on interning about 12.5 hours per week at their placement sites. Please note that if you come in on the accelerated academic plan track you will complete the 500 hours over the course of three academic quarters by completing 16.5 hours per week.

If you are not an accelerated academic track student but are interested in expediting your internship hours (completing the 500 hours over the course of three academic quarters doing 16.5 hours/week), please connect with your placement specialist for further discussion. There are financial considerations and paperwork involved in the process of moving your field credits into a three quarter set up over the typical four. 

VFX students complete 200 hours of Foundation Year hours through the VFX course, and are required to complete a minimum of 700 internship hours at a community based agency over the course of six academic quarters. Students should plan on interning about 10 hours per week at their placement sites for the first two quarters to finish Foundation Year hours, and 12.5 hours per week for the duration of their Concentration Year. Please note that if you come in on the accelerated academic plan track you will complete the 700 hours over the course of four academic quarters by completing 20 hours per week for Foundation Year and 16.5 hours per week for Concentration Year. 

If you are not an accelerated academic track student but are interested in expediting your internship hours (completing the 700 hours over the course of five academic quarters by completing 10 hours per week for Foundation Year and 16.5 hours per week for Concentration Year), please connect with your placement specialist for further discussion. There are financial considerations and paperwork involved in the process of moving your field credits into a three quarter set up over the typical four. 

This is at the site’s discretion. If you are interested in taking breaks, please discuss this with your site well in advance of the break dates. 

There is some flexibility related to a student’s placement start date. Generally, students will begin their placements during the first week of the quarter. Please discuss your desired start date with your site and/or placement specialist.

Although we work diligently to place students as close to their preferred placement address as possible, students may be required to travel up to 60 miles to their placement site. Please note: Distance is based on travel miles, not travel time. In all regional areas, including larger metropolitan areas, the field placement can extend up to this radius due to site availability, saturation of other local students and universities, and the quality of experiences provided on-site. Students are financially responsible for commuting to and from their field placements. 

Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. During regular business hours, you will have exposure to substantive social work experience and receive guidance, support and individual supervision from your field instructor. You are expected to have availability and some flexibility during these times. 

**If you are not available during regular business hours, the placement team will support you through the referrals process, through which you will be able to identify a placement that works for your specific schedule. (See Referrals for more information.)

Connect with your placement specialist about this in your welcome call, as you can explore options like Place of Employment Internships and the Referrals Based Track to accommodate your schedule/needs. Your placement specialist is there to support you. 

For Foundation Year students, our main priority is to identify a qualified, faculty-approved generalist social work experience. Foundation Year placements are not made based on student interest. If students have a strong preference, we highly encourage them to submit referrals. We do our best to match Concentration Year students with placements based on their interest areas and/or concentrations; however, we cannot guarantee a placement that exactly fits a student’s specific interest. If students have a strong preference, we highly encourage them to submit referrals.

Should you have a specific interest, travel restriction or schedule preference, you are strongly encouraged to network in your community and submit qualified referrals that can accommodate these preferences. Your placement specialist will support you through the entire referrals process—you are not on your own! 

Referrals are due six weeks prior to your placement start date. 

Yes, you must have a conversation with the site prior to submitting a referral to confirm that it is interested in hosting an intern. Please include the contact information for the person you spoke with in your referral form.

Yes! The place of employment (POE) process requires thorough paperwork and is subject to faculty approval. Please schedule a time to learn more about the process with your placement specialist. POE paperwork is due six weeks prior to your placement start date.  

Yes! The duplicate internship process requires paperwork and is subject to faculty approval as well as site approval. Please schedule a time to learn more about the process with your placement specialist. Paperwork is due six weeks prior to your placement start date.

The link to access the referral form is in your “Welcome Call Follow-Up” email. You can also request the link from your placement specialist. Note: The referral deadline is six weeks prior to your scheduled placement start date. 

Please request this form from your placement specialist. Note: The relocation deadline is 10 weeks prior to your scheduled placement start date. 

The field manual is attached to your “Welcome Call Follow-Up” email. You can also request the link from your placement specialist. Note: Students are held accountable to the content within the field manual, including relevant placement policies and procedures.

Please request these forms from your placement specialist. You can also access it on the student portfolio page.

These are unprecedented times, and we are here to help. For questions about COVID-19, policies or other relevant updates, please visit the Field Education page.