About the HOD Internship

The HOD internship experience has a dual purpose. Though its primary goal is academic, your internship may also aid you in reaching goals such as finding a career direction, developing professional skills, or gaining relevant industry experience that will help you compete for employment after graduation.

While specifics of the internship are kept flexible to allow the experience to meet the needs of individual students, most students work full-time in an organization for one semester. Second-semester juniors and seniors who have completed the core HOD courses are eligible to complete the internship.

You will work in your internship settings four days per week and spend the fifth day in seminar meetings and independent study to complete assignments and continue efforts to complete a large project connected to your internship.

There are several important differences between the HOD internship and a summer job or co-op experience. Please note the following restrictions:

• All internships must be supervised in order to ensure the completion of a number of specific assignments.
• All internships must be approved by the program's internship committee.
• There are several restrictions placed on internships completed for academic credit. Internships are usually unpaid and they must take place in a city where the program has retained faculty supervisors. The internship may not be completed in a family business or in a setting where an immediate family member is in a position of authority.
• Students may not perform the internship in a place of former employment.

Internship Course Work
During the internship semester, you will be registered for the following course work:

• Three to six hours of internship: HOD 2900 - Internship in Human & Organizational Development
• Three, three-hour seminars: HOD 2910 - Advanced Internship Seminar, HOD 2920 - Theoretical Applications, and HOD 2930 - Senior Project are all designed to bring the theories learned in on-campus courses to bear on real world problems.

Internship Sites
Internship placements are available in seven cities, each offering an array of unique opportunities in industry-specific areas. For example, Washington provides special opportunities to work with government and policy groups. Atlanta offers special media and corporate placements. Internships in New York City cover a broad range of organizations such as finance, youth development, fashion, and advertising. San Francisco provides opportunities in technology and tourism. Students work in an international environment in London. And Nashville has a wide range of music industry, corporate, and non-profit placements.

• Atlanta
• Chicago
• London
• Nashville
• New York City
• San Francisco
• Washington, D.C.