Internships

Internships offer unique opportunities for hands-on practical learning. 
Through them, students enrich their classroom experiences and see how the     insights from Women's Studies scholarship translates into the "real world" and vice versa.   The CWSGR offers a variety of internships through women's and gender organizations in Gainesville, some of which are listed below.  Students are also encouraged to develop their own internships out of their own community networks, or  through the offerings at the Career Resource Center and the UF-Gainesville Chamber of Commerce Bridge Program.  Some internships in national and international organizations can be found through the National Women's Studies Association website, and many others are available through idealist.org  Many students in Women's Studies have taken advantage of the internship course and report that it was one of the best experiences of their college careers.

• Alachua County Victim Services and Rape Crisis Center
• Bread and Roses Women's Health Services 
• Citizens' Food Co-Op
• Civic Media Center of Gainesville
  
• Florida Department of Children and Families
  
• Friends of Wild Iris
• High Rocks School for Girls (summer only)
• League of Women Voters of Alachua County
• LGBT Affairs, Dean of Students Office, U.F.
• Peaceful Paths Domestic Abuse  Network
• Planned Parenthood of North Central Florida
  
• Office of Victim Services, University Police Dept., UF
• Rural Health Partnership of North Central Florida

• You must APPLY for an internship; you cannot just enroll in it as you do for a class.  Your internship must involve work related to gender, sexuality, or women's issues in order for it to count towards the Women's Studies major/minor.
• If you hope to pursue an internship with an organization other than those listed above, you will need to have your contact at the placement complete the Prospective Internship Provider Questionnaire.
  
• Once you've identified an organization you are interested in and clarified the Women's or Gender Studies goals you hope to achieve by working there, you should make arrangments with your supervisor about what work you will do, how much time you will spend in the placement each week, and with whom you will be working. Ask about the standards for dress, breaks, and personal conduct in the workplace to avoid conflicts around these issues later.  The number of credit hours you earn will depend on the number of hours you work each week at the organization:
•  1 credit = 3 hours per week =45 hours per semester
  
• 2 credits = 7 hours per week= 90 hours per semester
  
• 3 credits = 10 hours per week= 145 hours per semester
  
• Complete the Internship Application (WST 4940 or WST 6946). It needs to be signed first by your contact person at the internship organization and then by the coordinator of your program (either undergraduate or graduate), who is your default "faculty sponsor."  (If you want to have a different faculty sponsor, discuss with your coordinator in advance).   Once your application is approved, you will be cleared to register in ISIS for WST4940/6946.
• The internship is taken as S/U.  Undegraduates and graduate students need to complete different tasks in order to receive credit.
• For Undergraduates
• At the end of the semester, you need to: 
• Provide the Center for Women's Studies with a brief letter from your internship supervisor attesting to your participation in their organization for the requisite number of hours.
• Provide your faculty sponsor with a 5-6 page, double-spaced summary of your internship experience. This should include your goals in doing the internship, how you incorporated the insights of Women's and Gender Studies into your work practice, what you learned, how what you've learned has contributed to your education, and what impact, if any, you see it having on your life.
• For Graduate Students
• At mid-term, you need to:   
• Complete a 2-3 page progress report that reflects on your experience thus far and poses questions that you may address in your final apper.
• At the end of the semester, you need to: 
• Provide the Center for Women's Studies with a brief letter from your internship supervisor attesting to your participation in their organization for the requisite number of hours.
• Provide your faculty sponsor with an 8-10 page, double-spaced summary of your internship experience. This should include your goals in doing the internship, how you incorporated the insights of Women's and Gender Studies into your work practice, what you learned, how what you've learned has contributed to your education, and what impact, if any, you see it having on your life.
• The Internship Applications contain more detailed information about schedules, deadlines, evaluation parameters, etc.  Please read them carefully to make sure that you understand everything that is expected of you as both a student enrolled in WST4940/6946 and a member of a workplace.

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