Human Development

The hands-on nature of the Human Development major requires an internship at a site of interest to the student. Our comprehensive internship program is an applied way to gain in-depth real world experience before graduation. The St. Petersburg, Tampa Bay area and beyond provides a large variety of internship opportunities working directly with people.

This internship facilitates structured, off campus, learning-work experiences for students in a wide range of local organizations. The internship allows students to integrate theory and knowledge gained in the classroom with real world applications that develop professional skills, increase confidence, and heighten career awareness. In this way, students are able to experience a career field while under supervision and determine whether it is a field they would like to pursue after graduation.

HD 401: Internship in Human Development

This course is taken in either the fall semester or spring semester of the senior year. It is a regular credit-bearing course, meaning that the class meets weekly and there are specific academic requirements in addition to the 150 hours of experience in the student’s chosen agency. By the beginning of the junior year the student, in conjunction with the mentor and internship professor, should begin to think about an appropriate internship experience. Practical aspects of interning must be planned, such as transportation and course load for that semester. Additionally, the student must attend an informational meeting that outlines the internship course as well as notify the internship professor in which semester she/he desires to be enrolled. The current policy limits the number of students in the class per semester, so it is a matter of planning ahead and getting one’s name on the list well in advance of the forthcoming semester.

Once you have determined which semester you will be taking the course, you should begin to explore possible organizations to intern at. You will discuss this with the internship professor at the informational meeting and are also strongly encouraged to meet with them one-on-one to brainstorm different locations (we can let you know where students have gone in the past, who has contacted us looking for interns, etc.).