MPA 6400G - Public Affairs Internship/Strategic Capstone

Credits: 4

There are two subsets of students- pre-service and in-service. Pre-service students are those who are “coming straight from their undergraduate institutions.” These students do not hold full-time employment in the public or nonprofit sector and are looking to equip themselves appropriately to succeed in an agency upon completing their degree. In-service students are often either looking to further themselves in their current full-time positions or make a shift to a new type of work. The purpose of the Internship/Capstone course is to provide pre-service/4+1 MPA students with: first-time, hands-on experience in their desired professional field of employment; the opportunity to build a professional network; and apply their developing MPA classroom skills in a tangible way. The project/capstone will be “internship-centric” for this group of students. Students will work with the Director to find a placement in an organization in a public affairs field. They will complete an average of 20 hrs/wk in their new assignment, and with guidance of the capstone advisor with complete a report on the experience. Those students who are currently employed full-time (minimum 35hrs/wk) (in-service) in an organization in a public affairs field, may petition the Director to have the fieldwork hours waived. They can apply their current position to fulfill the fieldwork hours, and will be assigned a Strategic Capstone project- an in-depth analysis of their current profession which can be used to further their career enhancement/career development. The Internship/Capstone course thus allows in-service students to complete an alternate project or study in lieu of the fieldwork hours. In-service students with fieldwork hour waivers will complete this alternative assignment not required of their pre-service classmates. In-service students will receive an assignment focused on a particular aspect or additional short-term function in their current position and complete it under the supervision of a faculty member. For this group of students, the project/capstone will be “academic/theoretical centric.”