Internships & Service Learning

Internships – Although internships are not required of all majors, many students earn credits while working in business or industry outside the classroom environment. The internship provides the career focus necessary to apply the communication skills acquired. Students have completed a wide variety of internships locally and around their home towns. Options are in place to do internships during the school year or in the summer. Interns have worked for legislators, government agencies, radio, television, publications, banks, manufacturing companies, nonprofit organizations, law firms, entertainment industries, insurance companies, large corporations, and small businesses. Students should work closely with their advisors to plan for internships and locate placements. Please see the department procedures for more information.

Service Learning – Service Learning is an integral aspect of the HCS mission and course practice. In HCS 100 and multiple majors courses, students apply theories of small group interaction to plan and execute projects involving audience adaptation, effective framing, persuasion, listening, and other communication skills. Successful service learning partnerships have been fostered between HCS faculty and various community and civic organizations, including:

The Department of Human Communication Studies at Shippensburg University is proud to be a charter member of the National Communication Association’s Communicating Common Ground Program. A project of the National Communication Association, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Campus Compact, and the American Association for Higher Education, CCG teams faculty and students from college-level communication programs with P-12 schools and community groups to implement programs that foster respect for diversity and combat prejudice in communities across America. College faculty and students in partnership with community groups develop research and teaching programs designed to advance civic education, appreciation of diversity, and the creation of communities in which hate, hate speech and hate crimes are rejected as antithetical to the values of a strong democracy.