Internships

A variety of internship opportunities are available for undergraduate and graduate students.

For more information about internships, students should first look to our University's Handshake platform, and second, contact Dr. Mike Hollingsworth, our Department's Internship Coordinator, at mhollingsworth@southalabama.edu

Undergraduate Internships (CJ or PSC 496)

The Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice offers Junior and Senior undergraduate students an opportunity to gain experiential learning and course credits through supervised internships in a variety of agencies, depending upon the needs of the individual student. While most interns are placed in local settings, internships may also be done outside the region. Students should coordinate internships with Dr. Hollingsworth at least one semester in advance of enrollment. A minimum of 112 hours of on-site work is required for a 3-credit hours of CJ or PSC 496. Students may enroll for up to 3 hours in their PSC/CJ major and/or 3 hours in their PSC/CJ minor.

MPA Internships (PSC 596)

Students in the MPA Program who are not suitably employed full-time in public agencies may be allowed to enroll in PSC 596, Graduate Internship in Public Administration, for a maximum of six semester hours. Normally, admission to the Internship Program will be dependent upon the following prerequisites:

1. Satisfactory completion of at least six of the required core courses
2. Approval by the internship coordinator, Dr. Hollingsworth

The length of the internship and corresponding credit (at the rate of three to six hours per semester), not to exceed a total of six hours, will be determined for each student on the basis of the student's particular needs and opportunities.
Each intern will be required, in consultation with Dr. Hollingsworth, to develop a research design for the project to be undertaken during the internship. Each intern will also be required to write a paper showing how that research design has been carried out. Particular emphasis will be placed in the paper upon the relationship between the internship experience and academic course work. Close and continuing supervision of each intern's progress will be provided by the intern professor.

For more information on MPA Internships, contact both Dr. Mike Hollingsworth, our Department's Internship Coordinator, and Dr. Thomas Shaw, Director of the MPA Program