URBS/PLSI 603 and 604, Public Service Internship and Seminar (4 units; F)
The internship is a core requirement of the Urban Studies major. It has two major objectives: first, to supplement the academic curriculum by
allowing students to apply and test what they have learned in the classroom against the practice of operating organizations; second, to
enhance employment prospects by allowing students to learn more about the kind of work they want to do, by giving them experience and
personal contacts in an area in which they might seek employment, and by helping them to obtain the kinds of skills and knowledge which are
needed in their intended field of employment.
Timing and placement process: The internship should be done relatively late in a student's program, after s/he has enough coursework to
have developed some useful job qualifications. The placement process should begin during the semester prior to the one in which the student
plans to do the internship in order to allow time to develop a placement which best fits each student's individual interests. Students meet with
the instructor, review placement possibilities, and together select a list of potential placement sites to interview. Several interviews are
encouraged, both to ensure the best possible choice of placement and because the interview experience itself is a valuable part of the
career-development process.
Placement information: The Urban Studies office maintains an abundance of information on possible internship placements: requests from
organizations, reports by past interns, and so on. Students should make good use of this information. In addition there are application forms
and handouts describing placement possibilities and placement procedures which students should get.
Course requirements: 12-15 hours of fieldwork for 15 weeks (180-200 hours); a 2-hour seminar every other week; and the submission of regular
journals and brief discussion papers analysing selected aspects of the internship.
Repeating the internship: Students are encouraged to repeat the internship. It may be repeated for credit at either the same or a different
placement. The written requirements will be modified as appropriate.
Recent placements have included: city planning departments in San Francisco, San Mateo, Larkspur, Berkeley, Daly City, South San
Francisco; neighborhood housing/planning organizations such as Chinatown Resource Center, Bernal Heights Community Foundation;
private planning consultants such as Environmental Science Associates; transportation planning such as Metropolitan Transportation
Commission; federal agencies such as the Government Accounting Office; legal internships such as SF Neighborhood Legal Assistance and
the Public Defender's office; city government offices such as the SF Board of Supervisors' budget analyst, SF Department of Public Health, SF
Mayor's Office of Housing, Brisbane City Manager; employment-oriented groups such as New Ways to Work, and Instituto Laboral de la
Raza; nonprofit advocacy groups and public interest groups such as the ACLU; women's organizations such as the Women's Building.