UC Santa Cruz offers a variety of field and exchange programs. Through field-placement programs, students gain or refine practical skills not usually taught in the classroom and provide needed services to various organizations, groups, and businesses. Students can receive academic credit for courses taken at other institutions and for fieldwork completed through almost all of these programs.

In addition to the opportunities available through the programs described below, internships are sponsored by UC Santa Cruz’s Career Center, and independent field study is available through most departments on campus.

Community Studies Field-Study Program
The Community Studies Field-Study Program has different programs for majors and non-majors in community studies, an interdisciplinary field that examines social change in the context of community.

All community studies majors undertake a six-month, full-time field study or internship with a community organization or agency for academic credit. With the guidance of a faculty adviser and field study coordinator, students choose field placements related to the social justice issue on which they choose to focus. Students have been placed with health centers, radio and television stations, newspapers, city-planning departments, political parties, neighborhood organizations, civil rights groups, battered women’s shelters, legal clinics, programs for seniors, tenant unions, the offices of elected officials, trade unions, and other organizations working for social change in communities. In addition, one-quarter field studies are open to non-majors for credit.

Further information is available from the community studies field-study coordinator, 218 Oakes College, (831) 459-4601, or the Community Studies Department, 231 Oakes College, (831) 459-2371.

Economics Field-Study Program
The Economics Field-Study Program offers students an opportunity to integrate academic theory with hands-on experience. Students usually complete field studies locally, although there are some placements in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. Field placements have been arranged with businesses, industry, state and local governments, and nonprofit organizations. Students have completed projects in marketing, financial analysis, accounting, human resources, and international trade. They have conducted research on issues involving monetary trends, public policy, and the problems of small businesses.

Office of International Education — Education Abroad Program

Through the Education Abroad Program (EAP), the University of California offers students the opportunity to study in 34 countries as part of their regular UC academic program. The EAP serves students at all UC campuses at the sophomore, junior, senior, and graduate level. Summer, short-term, and year-long program options are available. EAP is administered by the University Office of EAP in Santa Barbara, while advising services are available at the Office of International Education.

Students receiving financial aid may apply their award toward their EAP program fees, cost of living abroad, and round-trip airfare. In addition, special scholarships are available for students going to some countries. Funds for small scholarships have been provided by alumni of the program and the UC Office of the President.

EAP is structured to allow students to go abroad while still completing their degree program in four years. Each EAP student receives full UC academic credit for completed EAP course work, much of which can be used to fulfill UCSC major and GE requirements. Students interested in participating in EAP should contact the Office of International Education early in their college career.

Further information on EAP is available from the Office of International Education (OIE), Classroom Unit Building, (831) 459-2858, oie.ucsc.edu or eap.ucop.edu.

Education Field Programs
Education Field Programs at UC Santa Cruz offer a variety of field opportunities, both for students who are preparing for careers in education and for those who wish to broaden their programs in the liberal arts and sciences through the study of education as a major social institution.

The minor in education is an undergraduate program in which students explore the history of educational thought and philosophy, the politics and economics of education, learn­ing theory and pedagogy, and issues of cultural and linguistic diversity in education. As a part of the six-course minor sequence, students engage in field study in schools through Education 180, Introduction to Teaching.

For more information, visit the Education Department web site.

Environmental Studies Internship Program
Open to all UC Santa Cruz students, the Environmental Studies Internship Program is an integral academic component of the environmental studies major, and it augments the research and professional development of undergraduate and graduate students (see Environmental Studies major sheet). Interns are placed individually and in groups, in local, national, and international agencies. Their work often results in publications and resource documents and in some cases serves as the primary basis for policy formation. Placements have included research with small businesses and farms, state agencies, nongovernmental organizations, conservation groups, and planning departments; assignments as natural history interpretive guides for state and national parks; and apprentice positions with consultants, agroecologists, resource specialists, and teachers.

Part-time and full-time placements are available, and students may receive two to 15 course credits for their work. Each student’s placement is supervised by a faculty adviser, a field sponsor, and the internship coordinator. Students spend 12 to 15 hours each week on their assignments for every five course credits they receive.

Internships are designed to complement a student’s course work and are available for both lower- and upper-division credit. Qualified environmental studies majors may undertake a senior internship to fulfill the department’s comprehensive requirement. Students are also encouraged to use their placements as a basis for senior thesis research, and occasionally interns who have returned from the field may give lectures in classes or present seminars. In addition, internships provide a fieldwork component for some environmental studies courses.

Further information is available from the Environmental Studies Internship Program Office, 491 Interdisciplinary Sciences Building, (831) 459-2104, esintern@ucsc.edu, envs.ucsc.edu/internships.

Health Sciences Internship Program
The Health Sciences Internship Program offers qualified students a unique opportunity for personal growth and professional development. Paired with a professional mentor, students spend one quarter interning in a community health care setting. Placement opportunities cover a broad range, from individual physicians to community clinics and hospitals, hospices, and public health agencies. The Health Sciences Internship Coordinator works with students to prepare them for their internship and maintains a database of appropriate placements. Junior and senior health sciences majors are eligible to apply. Applications are due one quarter in advance. For further information, contact the Health Sciences Internship Coordinator, Caroline Berger, at (831) 459-5647, cmberger@ucsc.edu.

Intercampus Visitor Program
The Intercampus Visitor Program enables students to take advantage of educational opportunities at other campuses of the University of California. Students may take courses not available at UC Santa Cruz, participate in special programs, or study with distinguished faculty at other campuses. The program is for one term only; students are expected to return to the Santa Cruz campus after the visit.

Each host campus establishes its own criteria for accepting students from other campuses as visitors. For further information, see reg.ucsc.edu/specialPrograms.htm or contact the special programs assistant in the Office of the Registrar, 190 Hahn Student Services Building, (831) 459-3459, registrar@ucsc.edu.

Latin American and Latino Studies Fieldwork
Field studies are independent, community-based study projects for academic credit, done under faculty sponsorship and arranged on an individual basis. LALS majors can do full-time field study for one quarter for full academic credit, a part-time field study scheduled in conjunction with formal course work at UCSC, or field study as an extension of the Education Abroad Program (EAP). Students who wish to pursue a full-time field study are required to take the Field Study Seminar (LALS 196).

Many of the LALS core and participating faculty have alliances with national and international organizations that support full-time field study or internship opportunities. To see a listing of local field study opportunities and to obtain further information, please contact Alessandra Bicudo Álvares, LALS undergraduate adviser, at (831) 459-2119 (aalvares@ucsc.edu). 

Psychology Field-Study Program
The Psychology Field-Study Program provides qualified students with an opportunity to integrate what they have learned in the classroom with direct experience in a community agency. Students develop new skills and clarify personal and professional goals by working as interns in schools, criminal justice programs, corporations, and mental health and other social service agencies, where they are supervised by a professional within that organization. Psychology faculty members sponsor field-study students, helping them to synthesize their intern experience with psychology course work and guiding them through an academic project.

Junior and senior psychology majors are eligible to apply. Application forms can be obtained from the Psychology Department, 273 Social Sciences 2 Building, (831) 459-4410, and are due one quarter in advance. There is a minimum commitment of two quarters. For further information, contact (831) 459-4410, psych.ucsc.edu/field_study.

UCDC
The UCDC (quarter in Washington, D.C.) Program supervises and supports students who pursue internships and academic study in the nation’s capital. The program is open through a competitive application process to juniors and seniors in all majors. Students enroll for fall, winter, or spring quarter, earn 12–15 course credits, and continue to be registered as full-time students. Courses are taught by UC faculty along with visiting faculty from the Washing­ton, D.C. area. Applicant selection is based on academic record, a written statement, letters of recommendation, and a personal interview.

Students live in the UC Washington Center, together with students from all of the participating UC campuses. This provides a social and intellectual community throughout the quarter.

Interested students in junior or senior standing with strong academic records are encouraged to apply. For further information, contact the UCDC coordinator, 5 Merrill College, (831) 459-2855, ucdc@ucsc.edu, politics.ucsc.edu/ucdc.

Further information is available from the special programs assistant in the Office of the Registrar, registrar@ucsc.edu, (831) 459-3459, reg.ucsc.edu/students/exchange.html.