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Department of Social Work

Employment-Based Internships

The Employment-Based Internship (EBI) is an opportunity available to students currently working in the field of social work. To qualify, the student must be providing social services directly with clients, in a qualifying agency. Only certain agencies and job duties will qualify.  If the student’s employment qualifies, the student can count their employment hours as internship hours. There are many requirements and policies that the employment site must meet for the student to use their employment as internship hours. Please refer to the EBI requirements, policies and procedures below, or you can view them in our downloadable EBI Requirements PDF.

Eligibility Requirements

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  • Employment-Based Internships Eligibility Requirements

    Before applying, please note that all criteria listed below must be met for an application to be considered.

    1. The student must be employed by the fieldwork site for a minimum of 90 days, must be past the probationary period with satisfactory performance before submitting an EBI proposal. The agency supervisor must verify this with the Department prior to submitting the application. There are no exceptions to this requirement.
    2. Students’ work tasks at the agency only qualify when directly linked to the nine social work competencies and level of practice (generalist, specialized/advanced). Please carefully review these (at end of document). The student’s work tasks and responsibilities must be focused on providing direct social work services to individuals, groups and/or families (Competencies 6-9). Examples of work tasks that DO qualify include: case management/resource and referral, supportive counseling and related interventions, crisis de-escalation, assessment/diagnosis, and related services. Examples of work tasks that DO NOT qualify include: clerical work; grants/administrative or related tasks; tracking client data/research studies, policy and advocacy work. These do not meet criteria because they do not provide direct services to clients.
    3. Before pursuing an EBI, students must consult their employer about employment-field placement policies and procedures and obtain direct supervisor and program director/CEO approval. This will be verified by the Social Work Department.
    4. Students must be in good standing at the agency and approved for an EBI by the The agency must allow the student to participate in activities that link directly to the nine CSWE social work competencies. This may or may not be in the same setting as the student's current work.
    5. Students in their Foundation year internship must be employed a minimum of 20 hours per week and advanced year internship students must be employed a minimum of 24 hours per week. If the students’ hours are reduced below this minimum, they will no longer be eligible to participate in the employment-based internship.
    6. The student must be in good standing at ±¬ÁÏÉçÇø with satisfactory GPA and without Statements of Concern or Corrective Action Plans in the past year.
    7. The Agency must provide a clinical supervisor who is different than the student’s employment supervisor.
    8. A clinical supervisor must have a Master’s in Social Work (MSW) from a CSWE accredited program with at least two years of full-time post-MSW degree work in the field; OR possess a similar degree and level of experience (MFT, Clinical or Counseling Psychologist).
    9. The clinical supervisor must agree to provide a social work perspective to the student’s internship The agency supervisor must agree to allow the student the space and permission to be a learner. In other words, the student’s role as a student should be prioritized along with their learning and skill development.
    10. The agency must be willing to establish an affiliation agreement with the School of Social Work if one does not already exist.
    11. The clinical supervisor must complete the new supervisor application and complete the required annual training.
    12. The agency must allow the clinical supervisor to attend internship education training and to have sufficient time to provide the minimum of at least one hour/week of supervision for the student. Supervision must focus on learning, skill development, and competency development. This hour of weekly supervision is in addition to the supervision the student may receive in their role as an employee.
    13. The agency must be willing to allow the student/employee to attend classes and have an educationally focused internship experience.
    14. The agency must be able to provide a generalist placement experience if the student/employee is applying for the first/foundation If the agency provides a second/advanced year placement, it is necessary to provide a placement experience that allows the student to participate in advanced-level graduate social work activities.
    15. The student and the agency agree to notify the Department of Social Work immediately regarding any changes in employment or duties or layoff so that that the student can be assisted in locating an alternate placement if appropriate.
    16. The EBI application must be received by the deadline specified. Once the application is submitted, it will be reviewed, and a response will be given as soon as possible to indicate whether the placement has been A site visit is required as part of the application review process prior to determining approval.
    17. If the application request is approved and granted, the student is aware and in accordance with Departmental policies, that they will use the employment site for field practicum for one academic year.
    18. If the applicant wants to utilize the EBI for a 2nd year they must reapply and show how their work will provide additional tasks commensurate with the advanced generalist practice indicators.

    Other Important Notes:

    • Completing the Employment-Based Internship application does not guarantee approval to utilize the employment site for internship All EBI applications must be approved. Typical reasons for non-approval are that agencies cannot provide sufficient work tasks that can be linked to all nine social work competencies and/or the agency does not agree to all the terms and conditions required to participate.
    • Students applying for EBIs for their 2nd year internship MUST still submit their 2nd year internship choices and other requirements by the due date(s).
    • The student, clinical supervisor, agency supervisor, and the Agency Director/CEO agree to guidelines above for the student to approved for an employment-based.

Please refer to the EPAS Social Work Competencies and Practice Indicators Downloadable PDF to ensure the student's work aligns with these competencies.

How to Complete the EBI Application

Please carefully review the instructions below. The application process is a 2-step process.

In STEP ONE, students will be required to submit an Adobe Docusign that will be routed to all parties who will either be completing and/or signing the application.

In STEP TWO, students will complete the form-fillable PDF EBI application that will be sent to their ±¬ÁÏÉçÇø email from AdobeSign.

IMPORTANT NOTE: To complete the Docusign you must fill in three email addresses: yours, your employment supervisor, and the internship supervisor. It is recommended that you have those email addresses on hand and ready to enter into the Docusign.

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  • Step One: Complete the EBI Docusign

    Once you have the necessary email information required to complete the Docusign, follow the process outlined below:

    2. Utilizing the drop-down menu, select the following document:
      • AA-CCHHS-MSW-EBI_Packet
    3. Fill out the form
      • Input the email address for each signing role listed
      • In the box labeled "Document Name", replace the word "Name" between the brackets with your name
        • Example: AA-CCHHS-MSW-EBI_Packet - [John Doe]
      • Submit the form by clicking on the blue button labeled "Submit" at the bottom of the page
  • Step Two: Complete the EBI Application

    Once you have submitted the form, you will receive an email from Docusign that contains the actual EBI Application.

    To prepare for completing the application, please thoroughly review the Sample EBI Application (see below) prior to preparing your application. 

    Sample EBI Application


Once you add emails to the workflow, a Docusign will be sent to your email to complete and sign. The Docusign will then be routed to the other individuals whose emails you listed on the Docusign for their signature. Once all signatures are captured the completed EBI application will be routed to all parties in PDF format.