Science Internship Program
Graduate Students
Students in the Environmental Science Master’s (ENSCI) Professional Science Masters (PSM) Program must complete a 400-hour professional internship as part of their course of study.
Securing an internship and writing your internship proposal
Typically, students line up their internships during the spring semester of their first year, and complete the majority of their internship work that summer. However, application deadlines of some internship positions may not fit within that timeline. Please notify your advisor and academic coordinator if you foresee delays in the start of your internship past your first summer in the ENSCI program.
Before you can start logging your 400 PSM hours, you must:
• Contact the Sciences Internship Program (SIP) as soon as you secure your internship. We will prepare an internship agreement with your organization. The University-Agency agreement is a mandate from the CSU chancellor’s office and cannot be waived. It can take several weeks to get this agreement signed by both parties, so we kindly ask that you contact us as soon as you know you’ll be working there to prevent delays.
• Have an approved (advisor / supervisor signed) internship proposal on file with the ENSCI program. You may start work before the proposal is filed, but hours completed before your proposal is filed do not count towards your 400 hours.
Enrolling in ENVS 594 and receiving credit for your work
You may enroll in ENVS 594 (Internship – Graduate Units) on the semester during which you write your proposal, on the semester in which you do the actual work, or in the semester following your internship work. Work with your academic coordinator to decide which option is the best for you. You will only receive course credit after you complete all your PSM requirements: the 400 work-hours, mid-term and final evaluations completed and approved by your supervisor, and turning in your advisor-approved final PSM report to the ENSCI Coordinator.