PhD Handbook: Internship
Students may complete a one-quarter or more internship if required by the student's faculty adviser. The student will develop a plan that consists of a set of activities designed to investigate connections between the theoretical components of the program and the practical realities of the schools and teaching. The internship will normally occur in the third year of the student's program and will take place in a school, a school district, or a regional or state office or an organized group that formulates and/or implements policy for schools (e.g., school boards, teachers' organizations, administrators' organizations, legislators and their aides, and civil servants).
The assignments should be different in nature from routine duties in which the student is already engaged. The student's program will be closely supervised by the dissertation committee, in consultation with faculty and other members from the internship institution. At the end of the internship the student will submit a written report of the experience. The activities during the internship will normally lead to dissertation research. If qualified and approved by the Office of Graduate Studies, in rare instances, a scholar from the internship agency might serve on the student's dissertation committee.