This is accomplished through the careful placement of students in agencies that represent the highest ideals of professionalism in the administration of justice. Ordinarily, the intern is assigned to an agency supervisor whose duties are cast in the mainstream activities of the organization and whose work represents what the intern might reasonably expect to encounter should he or she pursue a career within this sector of the criminal justice system. The agency supervisor is asked to view the intern as an apprentice who is learning to perform the major tasks associated with the job at hand. In this way, the intern learns not only the organizational routine, but further benefits from the experience and expertise of the supervisor. The internship is also an academic learning experience in which students are expected to successfully complete a research project in criminal justice as well as compose a number of short essays analyzing concepts or issue from previous course work in relation to agency experiences .
Students complete a semester-long internship toward the end of the program of study.
For 14 weeks of the 15 week semester, interns are required to work 40 hours per week in the agency. This time is intended to aid the intern in fulfilling the academic requirements of the internship. Students must submit a plan for the five days to be absent from the agency including dates and how the time will be used. Internships are arranged two terms in advance by the student in consultation with the Criminal Justice Studies internship coordinator. All internships must be approved by both the sponsoring agency and the Criminal Justice Studies Program.