Erickson School Internships

The best step toward a career after graduation is an interactive and valuable experience through the provision of a well-crafted and highly mentored internship. The primary goal of Erickson School is to prepare students to assume leadership and launch successful, rewarding careers that will address the demands of our aging society. The Erickson School believes that a critical part of each student’s undergraduate work is to complete a highly coordinated program of learning in a professional setting.

The internship portion of the curriculum offers students the opportunity to interact with prospective employers by applying their broad knowledge of and sensitivities to aging issues and management theory gained in the classroom to critical projects at established organizations. In addition to the required 5-credit internship assignment, the curriculum allows for up to 3 additional credits for an elective practicum that further enhances the internship experience.  

Benefits of an Erickson School Internship

• Faculty seeks, first and foremost, to place students into internship assignments that best match their career aspirations and best serve their personal and professional growth.
• Erickson students gain real-world experience in a rapidly growing field and secure a competitive employment advantage after graduation.
• The program allows students to test and integrate classroom learning and hone their skills and performance in an environment of caring supervision and feedback.
• The program is sufficiently flexible to accommodate numerous interests and opportunities for students; these might include a traditional two-day per week work schedule, intensive full-time assignments and even internships distant from the UMBC campus.
• Erickson students take advantage of an extensive network of for-profit, not-for-profit and government-related entities that have subscribed as partners with the school.

Please contact us directly if you have questions or would like to learn more about the Erickson School Internship Program.

Internship Requirement

All students must complete a one-semester internship and a simultaneous one-credit internship seminar course (AGNG 460 and AGNG 461). The internship requires 15 hours a week for the duration of the semester, and detailed requirements are outlined elsewhere. Enrollment in the internship takes place when students achieve Junior status in the university and have successfully completed at least 15 credits of the required courses (core or elective) with a grade point average of 2.5 or better.  The processes to apply for the internship and the rules governing it are detailed in the Erickson School’s Internship Program Manual. The timetable for application begins a full semester (at minimum) prior to the initiation of the internship semester; a timetable is outlined in the manual. Erickson School has developed multiple internship opportunities with private industry, governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations that reflect the varied careers available to students. The purposes of the internship are:

Testing their presumed career path for “fit”
Applying classroom skills and knowledge to real circumstances and constraint
Engaging with older adults, professionals, regulators, and policy-makers
Honing skills and performance with supervision and feedback
Oversight of the internship will be guided by an on-site supervisor in the host setting for the internship and through the UMBC faculty member supervising the related seminar class.  Students should be proactive in contacting their advisors when they plan to pursue the internship in order to begin the process and receive the manual.

Host Information

The faculty and administration of Erickson School are committed to working with hosts to facilitate the growth and professional development of our students while developing mutually beneficial partnerships with our host organizations.

If you are interested in providing Erickson students with opportunities to enhance their professional skills and to develop their own unique sense of direction and confidence, please contact us directly and view our manual and host application.

Contact Us

If you are interested in learning more about the Erickson School Internship Program, contact the Internship Program Staff:

 

Dr. Robin Majeski, Director
443.543.5622
majeski@umbc.edu

Kristanna Jones, Coordinator
443.543.5637
kristanna.jones@umbc.edu