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UIP Home > UIP Overview
The University of Virginia Internship Programs Office: Overview
Introduction
A UIP Internship has Two Components
- Supervised Field Experience
Eligibility
Introduction
The University of Virginia Internship Programs (UIP) is a unique, supervised, two-part, for-credit, academic internship program offered through the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service in collaboration with the College of Arts & Sciences, Departments of Sociology and Psychology. The UIP is a year-round, academic program that offers several internship options to U.Va. undergraduate students:
• Academic Year Internship Program in Charlottesville (Fall & Spring Semesters)• Summer Internship Program in Charlottesville (Summer Session)• Extended Summer Internship Program in Charlottesville (Summer & Fall Semesters)• To-Go Summer Internship Programs in:o Dublin, Ireland (Special Summer Session)
o Paris, France (Special Summer Session) -Program starts Summer 2009.
o Washington, D. C. (Summer Session)
o To-Go Other U.S. cities and Abroad (Summer Session)
The UIP is an interdisciplinary program that coordinates and administers the academic and administrative components of internships for U.Va. students in more than 50 undergraduate majors and concentrations in the College of Arts and Sciences. The program is intended and designed to provide students with academically relevant classroom content and a field placement which builds on knowledge and skills learned from study in their major and in the social sciences generally. The majority of students participating in the UIP are majors in the College of Arts and Sciences; however, participation is open to students from other schools. In addition to the College, UIP interns have included students from the McIntire School of Business, Curry School of Education, School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
The UIP combines academic instruction and work experience in an applied setting under the supervision of UIP liaisons, faculty members and field sponsors. The interdependence of the classroom-field combination involves intentional learning that supports interns’ academic, career and personal interests. The UIP field placement is a meaningful, closely monitored, career-related, major-related and/or interest-related work experience that extends interns’ learning beyond the classroom to non-profit organizations, government agencies, and for-profit businesses. The upper division Sociology and Psychology UIP seminars provide interns with a structured classroom environment to actively reflect on their field placements and to discuss and learn about themselves, their professional areas of interest, the workplace, and life in organizations.
Through its “To-Go” program option, the UIP offers U.Va. students the opportunity to participate in internships outside of the Charlottesville area and abroad. The UIP develops opportunities for and the mechanisms by which U.Va. students are able to integrate academic and applied experiences in the context of service within public and private organizations, and to make contributions to society and to the local and global communities; thereby extending the public service mission of the University of Virginia.
Since its beginning in 1976, the UIP has placed over 6,000 U.Va. interns in public and private sector organizations in the Charlottesville area. A conservative estimate of the value of UIP interns’ contribution and service from 1976 through AY 2006-07 to organizations in the Charlottesville area is between $12 and $13 million dollars.
UIP Internship has Two Components:
(1) Academic Seminar
All
interns are assigned to an academic seminar based on the client
population they serve or the service area in which they intern. Academic
seminars are conducted by a faculty member from either the Psychology
or Sociology department. The weekly seminar will provide you with a
structured classroom environment to actively reflect on your internship
experiences and to discuss and learn about yourself, the workplace,
service delivery, and life in organizatioins.
Seminars are structured around a different focus each semester:
- 1st Semester Focus - personal/professional development and understanding work and organizational behavior
- 2nd Semester Focus - post-collegiate transition topics, and emerging professional, organizational, and community concerns
In
the seminar you will participate in group and structured learning
experiences, group presentations to the class and write short topic
papers and a term paper. The seminar also provides a supportive
environment to reflect on events that occur while on your internship
and to discuss your experiences with other interns.
(2) Supervised Internship/Field Experience
Whether in Charlottesville or elsewhere, the local, national and international areas are rich in social, governmental, cultural, and
natural resources. As the community and its economic base have
expanded, internship opportunities have grown. Through the University
Internship Programs, everywhere becomes a stimulating educational
laboratory where you will experience the diverse population and the challenges that face organizations in communities and have the opportunity to:
- Recognize your skills & talents by working with professionals in the public, for-profit, or non-profit sectors
- Broaden your understanding of the diversity and wealth of opportunity in Charlottesville, Abroad, and elsewhere
- Experience, first hand, the challenges faced by organizations
- Prepare yourself for the post-collegiate transition to either graduate school or work
Eligibility:
To be eligible for the University Internship Programs, you must:
- Be a 3rd or 4th year student enrolled at the University of Virginia*
- Have an overall GPA of 2.5
- Have no academic warnings
- Clear disciplinary record
- Be willing and able to devote the time and energy necessary to meet UIP's demands
*Rising 3rd year students may participate in any of Charlottesville or To-Go Summer Internship Programs. Participation of 1st and 2nd years is determined on a case-by-case basis.
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