Prospective Community Partners

Thank you for your interest in partnering to develop fieldwork opportunities with the UCI School of Social Ecology Field Study Program!

What is Field Study?

Our faculty has developed the field study requirement of our undergraduate degree program to engage students in rigorous, innovative, thoughtful, and engaged learning through active participation in our community. Field study provides students with the opportunity to examine social problems; evaluate the merit of ideas presented in the classroom; and educates students in conducting naturalistic scholarly observations and investigations.

Agencies such as yours provide a learning environment where students actively engage in the day-to-day operations of the site while they are conducting a scholarly inquiry related to their placement. Supervisors provide 1:1 supervision, feedback and mentoring. The role of the student at most placement sites is that of a participant-observer, and students are expected to be professional, engaged, inquisitive, and ready to learn and contribute. We invite sites to consider partnering with the Field Study Program as one-time placements or long-term partners. 

Ideal placement sites provide students with a pre-professional experience and structure the student’s activities to allow the student to:

• Contribute to the day-to-day activities of the organization by working on duties and tasks related to the Social Ecology curriculum
• Develop an understanding of organizational goals and objectives
• Observe current social problems and evaluate intervention strategies
• Perceive relationships between theories learned in the classroom and practice experienced in the field
• Develop interpersonal and technical competencies required in the workplace
• Field study sites must adhere to The Fair Labor Standards Act

Ideal placements are within the scope of the following categories: 

• Child & Family Services
• Clinical/Counseling 
• College Student Services 
• Education (K-12) 
• Environmental Planning & Policy 
• General Community Outreach & Services 
• Healthcare Services 
• Human Resources & I/O Psychology 
• Law Enforcement 
• Legal Services 

Ideal placements: 

• Can a accommodate a minimum of 80 hours during a 10-week period 
• Commit to being responsive to student and program correspondence
• Can commit to submitting quarterly evaluations at the end of the placement period 

How do I become a partner or how do I recommend a site to become an approved partner? 

If you are interested in providing field study opportunities for Social Ecology students OR you are a student and are interested in referring a new placement site, please review the instructions below. Please note the process can take 2-3 weeks--we thank you in advance for your patience. 

Step 1: Complete the New Site Application

• This application must be submitted by a representative of the site, not the student.

Step 2: Virtual Meeting

• Once we receive the completed site application, we will reach out to the site representative to schedule a virtual meeting. This meeting will allow us to discuss the field study partnership and assess whether the organization aligns with our program’s expectations.

Step 3: Review and Sign the Field Study Program - Site Placement Agreement. 

• All new sites must review, sign, and return the Field Study Agreement. This agreement is a 5-year contract between the site and the Field Study Program and must be finalized before students can begin their fieldwork.

Step 4: Placement Status

• For Student-Referred Sites: The referring student(s) will be assigned a site number and provided with next steps.
• For One-Time Placements: New sites are added to the one-time placement database but will not be listed on our website.
• For Long-Term Partners: New sites are added to our online placement catalog, making them available to all Social Ecology students.

If you have questions about this process, please email sefieldstudy@uci.edu.

NEW! For sites recommended by a student, the representative from the organization must SUBMIT a NEW SITE APPLICATION and SCHEDULE A NEW SITE MEETING with our office prior to each quarterly deadline listed below: 

Are you interested in becoming an Advanced Field Study Partner?

The Advanced Field Study (AFS) program provides students with an in-depth, three-quarter-long Field Study experience focused on addressing issues in the community through civic engagement. It allows students to participate in an extended internship with an organization for 8 hours.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MOREeek f

cor all three quarters. 

Resource

• Community Partner Guide
  • What is included: 
    • An overview of the School of Social Ecology students and majors 
    • Supervisor and student roles and expectations
    • Student learning goals 
    • Sample student duties 
    • 24-25 recruitment schedule (summer, fall, winter & spring) 
    • Fieldwork overview
• Internship Programs Under the Fair Labor Standards Act - Important information from the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
• Upcoming recruitment timelines and important deadlines

If you have any questions regarding the School of Social Ecology or the field study program, please contact us at (949) 824-6861 or sefieldstudy@uci.edu.