Human Development Fieldwork

Since careers within Human Development (HD) can include any type of work associated with a condition effecting a person’s quality of life, it is important to offer fieldwork experiences for HD majors in multiple arenas. Under the auspices of “Community Engagement”, the HD department offers a variety of opportunities to explore potential careers.

Service Learning

A number of HD courses require students to select a site from the Cal State S4 database, in which to volunteer during the semester they are taking a particular course. Course discussions are derived from these fieldwork experiences. Service learning required volunteer hours in a course may vary between 15-30 hours, depending on the course requirements. These service learning hours are often students’ first hands on experiences within an area of personal interest as a potential career.

Junior Teaching Collaboration

This opportunity is for HD juniors considering a career in education. Collaborating with the College of Education, this experience provides research opportunities for HD juniors who are interested in designing, implementing, and studying learning experiences for elementary and middle school children and their families using both low and high tech tools. The goal of the project is to understand how children develop design thinking, systems thinking, and computational thinking skills through playing and creating games.

Required Internship as Part of HD495

Part of the culmination of the HD program is taking HD 495: Field Experience in Human Development. The course is normally taken during one’s senior year. As part of the course, students are required to do a minimum of 90 hours of field experience at an approved site listed on the Community Engagement listing of approved agencies by visit the . Orientations for the HD495 course are mandatory to be taken a semester prior to the beginning of the course (normally a week or two before priority registration). This allows for time for the student to complete any interviews or health and background checks, which are often required by many field sites (especially those working with vulnerable populations, such as, children and patients). Both face-to-face and are available, depending on individual student’s preferences. HD internships are normally voluntary. You can contact the instructor or HD internship coordinator for more information. The required field experience for HD495 provides an opportunity for students to experience the day-to-day requirements of a possible career choice in the field of Human Development. Some sites even hire their previous interns!

In order to meet the needs of HD students, the department has established the following four options for experiencing an HD internship:

Individual Internship – This is the traditional format for interning. The student will contact the volunteer coordinator listed for their selected site on the Cal State S4 database and make arrangements for applying to intern at the site, as well as creating personal goals and a plan for completing the required 90 hours of volunteer service.
HD Dyads – During orientation the semester prior to interning, a limited number of sites will be accepting students who prefer to collaboratively work with a peer. These dyads have been pre-arranged with specific sites and students are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible to have time to complete any interviews and health/background checks required by the site.
COBA Collaborative Senior Experience – A limited number of openings for HD students are offered to collaboratively complete a project for a local company in a team of 5 students from both the HD and the Business Administration departments. Not only will these interns experience working for a company within their area of interest, but they will also gain important business experiences to add on their resume. These experiences include completing an assigned project for a local company, collaboratively writing a professional paper with their group members and participating in a “tradeshow” that showcases all of the COBA Senior Experience projects and offers extensive networking opportunities.
Internships Abroad – For those adventurous spirits, there are a variety of international internships available during the summer and in between semesters. Some of these international experiences have taken students to Brazil, Ecuador and Australia. Projects include those related to human services such as volunteering at an orphanage or working with youth in a YMCA program. Specific information can be found through the .

For more information on HD fieldwork, please contact the Human Development Internship Coordinator:
Dr. Kathy Fuller
(951) 750-8290
UNIV 306
kfuller@csusm.edu

��������