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

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: Prospective new partners will need to complete the New Site Application. 

• This needs to be completed by a representative of the site and NOT by the student. 

Step 2: After we receive the new site application, we will reach out to the site representative to schedule a virtual meeting to discuss the field study partnership and evaluate the organization's compatibility and our program's expectations. 

Step 3:  All new sites are required to review, sign, and return the Field Study Agreement before a partnership is finalized and before students can begin their fieldwork. This is a 5-year agreement between the site and the Field Study Program. 

Step 4:  

• For Student Referred Sites ONLY: The referring student(s) will be provided with an assigned site number and next steps.
• For One-Time Placements: new sites are added to the one-time placement database--they will not be listed on the website.
• For Long-Term partners: placement listings will be added to our online placement catalog and be made 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: 

Resources

• 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 
    • 23-24 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

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.