Resources
After College
Advising
Curriculum
Clubs
Internships
Faculty
Department
News

Internships
Click here for internship opportunities

The Political Science Department offers course credit for supervised work experience related to subfields in Political Science, including American politics, public policy and administration, pre-law, and international relations. Internships provide students opportunities to gain first-hand experiences in a variety of agencies and organizations. Internships may be paid or unpaid.

Arranging an Internship
The Political Science department has arranged over 80 internship opportunities with organizations willing to supervise interns; many of these agencies and organizations are listed here, grouped by category. The list can also be found in Building 47, Hallway 11. Most internships are in San Luis Obispo, though we also offer internships in Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. For answers to questions about internships, please contact Dr. Jean Williams, Internship Director, at 756-2984, or jemwilli@calpoly.edu. For pre-law internships, please contact Dr. Ron Den Otter at 756-6147, or rdenotte@calpoly.edu. To participate in an internship, you will need to complete the Application form.

Students also may arrange their own internships, but only after consulting the Internship Director. At other times, a student may be employed in a position that may qualify for internship credits. The Internship Director must approve of the internship prior to arranging for credit. The University does not provide internship credit for past work experience.

Course Credit
Any Cal Poly student of junior or senior standing with a minimum grade point average of 2.5 is eligible for an internship. While most students come from Political Science, some come from Journalism, Computer Science, Social Science, or other academic disciplines. To gain credit, a student enrolls in POLS 386 (Government Internship) in the academic quarter of the work experience. Students should arrange for internship credit with the Internship Director in advance of the internship. This course has credit/no credit grading. The student may enroll for 2 to 12 credit increments per quarter. Each unit corresponds to approximately thirty hours of work experience. The credits may be earned with the same organization or with different organizations. Some students may choose to take full time internships (30 or more hours a week) and to earn 12 units during a quarter. Additionally, students may enroll in POLS 400 Independent Study to undertake independent research related to internships.

Internship Registration
Obligations of the University
The Internship Director ensures that the student's academic training meets the needs of the sponsoring organization, and supervises the academic part of the internship. The Internship Director assists to help make the internship a satisfactory one for both the student and the sponsoring organization.

Obligations of the Organization
The participating organization will confirm the start of an internship in a letter to the Internship Director. The letter should states the names of the intern and of the supervisor at the participating organization, the position duties and responsibilities, the duration of the position, scheduled hours, and rate of pay if applicable. Any special responsibility or project negotiated with the student may be stated in the letter. This letter serves as an informal contract for the student, organization, and University. When the internship is completed, the supervisor submits a letter of evaluation to the Internship Director. The letter reflects the performance of the intern.

Obligations of the Intern
The intern must fulfill the agreement negotiated with the supervisor and abides by the rules and regulations governing employees. If the intern has difficulties in the internship, it is the intern's responsibility to notify the Internship Director. The intern will submit to the Internship Director a progress report (4-6 page essay) which evaluates the internship experience. The evaluation should be typed double-spaced and submitted by the seventh week of each quarter in which the intern is under the supervision of an employer and receiving internship credit. Only one progress report is due each quarter. Guidelines for progress reports are available in the Department Office and online.