Internships Program: The Office of Career Services

Students have two options to receive academic credit for their internship during the academic year. Students can opt to take the practicum course or receive credit through fieldwork, details below. For questions, please contact the Dean of Studies Office.

PRACTICUM

Fall 2019: Foundations in Workplace Culture and Wellbeing (PRAC-3100-R) – Meghan Jablonski

Fall sophomores and above practicum: Wednesdays 5:30pm-8:30pm, Titsworth Lecture Hall

New fall practicum.

Click here for FAQ’s regarding this course

Participation in this course provides faculty sponsorship of students' internship or externship placements across a variety of fields. In collaboration with Career Services, the aim of this course is to provide an academic base of support for students on internship or externship placements.  Grounded on relevant psychology theory and research, the course will focus on topics relevant to a wide range of placement settings.  Topics will include organizational psychology, diversity and inclusion; workplace wellness; productivity; time management; and work/life balance.  All students will be required to attend one weekly class session and complete related course work, in addition to regularly attending their placement.  Students completing the course for five credits will be required to complete an additional conference project.  All grades will be Pass/Fail.  All students must be actively engaged in an internship or externship placement during the Fall 2019 semester to be eligible for this course. Sophomore, Junior, and Senior students on internship or externship placements are invited to join this large seminar for 3 or 5 credits.

Spring 2020: SLCeeds: Ideas from Concept to Creation– Roger Osario

Tuesdays from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

Open, Lecture – Spring, May earn academic credit for an internship, however participating in an internship is not required.

5 credits or 3 credits (if taken for 3 credits in addition to 15 credits for the term, may only be added during the 2nd week of classes)

This course provides current knowledge and research in several areas of entrepreneurship (i.e. social, for-profit, non-profit, etc.) offering students the opportunity to apply this learning for taking an idea from concept to creation. All students will engage in the process within the context of an idea developed by students in the course. Students will experience a full process cycle so that they can begin the journey of mastering these skills. Assignments will involve readings, research and tracking of the various steps of the process, culminating into a final presentation of their idea. Students taking the course for five credits will be expected to develop and submit a final project or paper. Students participating in an internship may earn academic credit for the internship with this course. An internship is not required to enroll in this course.

Internship Approval Process for Practicum Course

 Students that opt to register their internship for academic credit through the course will need to have their internship approved by the Office of Career Services. To request approval, students will log into their Handshake account and submit the pertinent information. All students must complete the request form and include their supervisor’s contact information, a detailed internship description, and outline four professional/personal learning objectives they hope to gain through their experience.  Please follow the steps below:

• Log into your Handshake account: https://sarahlawrence.joinhandshake.com/
• Click on Career Center (top right tab), and then select Experiences
• Click on Request an Experience
• Complete the entire form with your internship information (including a detailed job description and four detailed learning objectives)
• Once the form is complete, click on Request Experience at the bottom of the page

Students will receive an email within 48 hours once their internship experience has been approved. Students and their internship supervisor will be expected to complete a mid-semester check-in survey as well as an end of semester performance evaluation. For more information, please visit MySLC or contact Career Services at careerservices@sarahlawrence.edu.   

FIELDWORK

Fieldwork combines work in an off-campus organization with independent academic study under the guidance of a faculty sponsor. Ideally, fieldwork represents a practical application of a theoretical approach—and/or “hands-on” exposure to a particular subject—that the student has already studied in an academic setting. Fieldwork courses may be taken as part of a student’s regular program during the academic year, during the summer, or while on a leave of absence from the College. These courses are not assigned evaluative grades, only written evaluations, and are taken on a pass/ fail basis. Students meet periodically with their sponsors to assess and direct work. Credits are commensurate with the scope of the project, frequency of meetings, and nature and quantity of academic work submitted. Academic credit is not awarded solely for the number of hours worked at the placement. If no academic work is completed, the course will result in no credit. Fieldwork is available to all but first-year students and first-semester transfer students. To apply for fieldwork, a student must identify a faculty sponsor to work with them throughout the semester. The sponsor should be someone that you have worked with in the past. Once you have identified a sponsor, complete the fieldwork application and obtain all the appropriate signatures. You must submit the application along with your fieldwork proposal to the Dean of Studies office for approval.

The Internship Travel Stipend Fund has been established to provide need-based financial aid students who are participating in unpaid internships during the academic year travel assistance. Eligible students can receive a $450 travel stipend to help offset commuting costs. Students can apply for the stipend through the Office of Career Services.

Many students benefit from alumni-donated funds to support the commute to and from various internships in NYC, as well as the surrounding Westchester area.

Gryphon Grants for Summer Internships Fund

The Gryphon Grants for Summer Internships Fund will support salaries and/or housing stipends for students receiving need based financial aid who are participating in unpaid or low paid internships this summer. Internships can be located anywhere in the United States or internationally. Students may receive up to $4500. Application deadline is April 1st.

The Annette Cravens Fund for Visual Arts (Summer)

The Fund is established to support students seeking direct contact with works of art and material culture to complement their academic and professional goals.  Cravens Internships are funded summer internships with the intention to offer students the opportunity to explore careers in the visual arts and gain valuable experience in museums, galleries, exhibition spaces, community centers, and similar cultural venues. Eligible students who have secured a visual arts internship will receive a $3,500 stipend.

Recent internship placements included: the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, White Columns, the International Print Center of New York, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The Redleaf Fund for internships in specific nonprofit organizations (Summer)

Ten students who receive an internship at participating nonprofit organizations will be eligible to receive a $4,500 stipend. Participating organizations will be confirmed by the end of the fall semester.  Previous organizations included:

• ACLU—National
• ACLU—Minnesota
• Americans United for Separation of Church and State
• Freedom from Religion
• Growth & Justice
• People Serving People
• Think Small
• Way to Grow

The Beth Block Foundation

In honor of Beth’s formative experiences as an undergraduate student at Sarah Lawrence College, the Beth Block Foundation, in conjunction with the Sarah Lawrence College’s Visual Arts Program is offering a $2,000.00 stipend to an undergraduate student who is undertaking a summer internship in fine art and/or documentary photography. Application deadline is May 1st.

Summer Science Externships/The Suzanne Salter Arkin Science Endowment

The Suzanne Salter Arkin Science Endowment is established to attract outstanding science students to the College who want to study science with the individual approach for which Sarah Lawrence is famous. The Endowment will support students participating in Summer Science Externships at major laboratories, hospitals, educational and research institutions, and companies in the New York area and beyond. Externs are selected by competitive application from the most advanced participants in the College's on-campus Summer Science Research Program or similar program, and must be serious in their desire to make science their life’s work. Following a successful externship, students may have the opportunity to continue their scientific work throughout the academic year. Accepted students will receive a $4,000 stipend which will support them during this opportunity for meaningful undergraduate research. Acceptance will be need-, sex-, and ethnicity-blind.

For more information regarding this Externship funding, please contact Dress Cressman, Department of Biology at dcressma@sarahlawrence.edu.

Students with an internship in the tri-state area can apply to live on campus for free throughout the summer months. Limited spots available. Preference is given to students on need-based financial aid and those who live outside the tri-state area.