Information for Students Starting or Preparing for School Internships

Meet with an Advisor

It's essential that you meet with an advisor before signing up for a clinic or internship. Your advisor will work with you to make sure that you've met all the prerequisite needed and to help you request the internship experience that will best meet your professional goals.
 

Submit a Clinic Request Form for the upcoming semester

Clinical practicum placements must be requested one semester in advance by the posted deadline every semester (see program calendar).
 

Pre-Approval for School Internship Placement

All students applying for the Speech-Language Pathology Services Credential (SLPSC) must apply to the Department of Special Education in the semester immediately prior to the student teaching experience (CD715 or CD716). 

• The Student Teaching Guidelines are listed here: http://spedcd.sfsu.edu/content/student-teaching-guidelines

• The Student Teaching Application along with individualized program area CAP forms (Credential Approved Program) are on the Forms page of the website: http://spedcd.sfsu.edu/content/forms-0

• The SLP Services Credential is close to the bottom of the Forms page 

Students need to submit a complete application, which includes the following materials:

1. Student teaching application
2. Signed CAP form (with totaled units) after meeting with a faculty advisor
3. Unofficial transcripts
4. Backup documentation:

• Proof of fingerprinting, COC, this must be registered on the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) website http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/fee-and-fingerprint.html
• TB test within the last 2 years
• Passing CBEST results

Pay the $35 Lab Fee

All student clinicians enrolled in clinical practicum on campus must pay a lab fee each semester. Checks are made out to SFSU CD CLINIC and must be submitted prior to working with your client.
 

Fill out an Internship Data Sheet

Fill out and submit an Internship Data Sheet (pdf or doc) to the CD Clinic Office. During the semester an on-campus supervisor will use the information on the data sheet to schedule a site visit.
 

Keep Track of Your Clock Hours

Semester Clock Hours. Tracking your clock hours throughout the semester. School/Pediatric Interns should use the School/Pediatric Hours Form.

Each clinician is responsible for keeping a record of his/her clock hours. At the end of each semester, the clinician completes two Semester Clock Hour Forms (SC-10). Both copies are submitted to the supervisor to be signed (ASHA number included) and submitted to the CD clinic coordinator. One copy is placed in the clinician's student file in the office, while the other copy is returned to the clinician for his/her personal records.

Cumulative Clock Hours. In addition to the clock hours forms completed for each clinic (as described above), clinicians must also maintain a Cumulative Clock Hour form (SC-12, downloadable as a pdf or doc) lists the number of hours required in each area for ASHA certification, CA licensure, and the CRS credential, so that the clinician can easily see where additionally hours are needed. Similarly, the breakdown by age group helps the clinician determine with what population he/she may need to work in order to round out their clinical experience. Two copies of the form are made and submitted to the supervisor to be initialed. One copy is kept in the clinician's student file, to be updated each semester (i.e., use the same Cumulative Clock Hours form each semester), while the other copy is retained by the clinician for his/her personal records. Each student is responsible for transferring clinical hours from SC12 to the ASHA Clinical Practicum form in their file.

» To learn more, read the Guide to Clinical Clock Hours

Internship Placements

The SFSU CD Program has established internship agreements with many schools around the Bay Area.

The CD faculty will review the requests for off-campus placements. The CD School Internship Coordinator will post the student placement assignments for confirmation. A mandatory meeting of all students approved for off-campus placement will be held after faculty approval. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the assignments and answer any individual questions the students may have. One-on-one appointments between the student and the CD School Internship Coordinator can be scheduled as needed.

The CD School Internship Coordinator is responsible for placement of credential candidates. It is the CD School Internship Coordinator?s job to assure that a valid contract exists between the site and SFSU, the site is appropriate to the student?s needs, and that the site supervisor is ASHA-certified in the appropriate area of supervision, holds California licensure and/or the appropriate credential. The CD School Internship Coordinator will contact prospective sites where students are desired and inform the supervisor which student(s) will be contacting them for interview(s).

The student is NOT to contact any off-campus site until specifically instructed to do so by the CD School Internship Coordinator. Site supervisors will not interview students nor will students be assigned to a particular site until the CD School Internship Coordinator has notified that site supervisor of the students who are eligible and who will be coming for interview(s). Failure to observe this protocol may jeopardize the student?s credential placement process.

During the interview, the student should provide the off-campus supervisor with information about experiences, current number and categories of clock hours, and specific client needs. After the student has been tentatively assigned to an off-campus site, she/he should observe at the site during the semester preceding the assignment. The observation will provide an opportunity for the student to meet with the supervisor and obtain preliminary information regarding the setting. It will also allow the supervisor to meet and discuss with the student the requirements the supervisor will establish.
 

Preparing for Your Interview

Once CD School Internship Coordinator gives you the approval, you will contact the internship site to set up an interview appointment. Prepare the following materials prior to your site interview:
1. Resume
2. Unofficial transcript
3. List of clinical hours by popluation and disorder (Cumulative Clock Hours Form)
4. A sample of a clinical report you've written with the identifying information of the client deleted
5. Proof of liability insurance
6. Proof of TB/Hepatitis clearance
7. Current contact information and message availability
 

Starting Your Internship

Once both you and the CD Program get notification that you've been accepted as an intern in a particular site, your internship experience can begin. In addition to the on-site supervisor who will be mentoring your ongoing work at the school site, you'll also be assigned a faculty supervisor from SFSU. Your faculty supervisor will act as a liaison between your internship site and SFSU if any concerns were to arise during the course of the internshp for either the intern or the supervisor. He/she will also make at least one site visit to meet with both you and your on-site supervisor during the semester. The purpose of the visit is check-in with and to support both the supervisor and the intern. After the visit, the faculty supervisor will file a site visit report.