Teaching Graduate Applied Sociology through Internships; Program Development, Management, and Problems

The relationships between sociological education and internships are analyzed using the experience of the first five years of the Wayne State University Program in Applied Sociology and Urban Policy Studies. I examine several major issues in addressing the subjects of internship program development, management, and problems. First, the multiple goals that an internship program is expected to achieve are discussed. I suggest that product and market research is necessary to maximize the achievement of program goals and to minimize conflict among them. In a related discussion, program policies concerning intern compensation and the degree of responsibility expected of interns by their sponsors are analyzed. Second, I discuss intern preparation, supervision, and evaluation. Third, two structural problems likely to be encountered by intern programs are analyzed, namely the high start-up costs of some internships and the tendency of student interns to rapidly gain full-time employment and to delay the completion of their degrees. Fourth, I present a brief reflection on the new role of internship director and its relationship to the department and the university.