Master's Program
Field Placement
Your field placement experiences are invaluable opportunities to put theory into action. Field placements are practica and internship classes that give you a chance to experience firsthand what you've been reading about in textbooks and discussing in class. No amount of reading, role playing, or talking "about" counseling can substitute for working with people in the "real world".
Your field placement experiences are designed to be a bridge between theory and practice. They are critical components of your graduate training. It is your responsibility to understand the expectations of the practica and internship courses and how to secure an appropriate placement site in a timely manner.
RMHC has over 100 partnerships with private practices, non-profit agencies, and federal and state government organizations in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and the surrounding areas. Click to learn more.
General Information
- Begin your field placement search early. Along with our department, students from various other departments and universities are vying for field placements throughout the community. Permits for field placement courses are issued on a first-come, first-serve basis. These courses can fill up quickly and we cannot exceed the enrollment cap in these courses.
- All field placement hours must be accrued within the confines of the semester dates. You cannot begin to accrue placement hours prior to the beginning of the semester, and all hours must be completed by the end of finals week for the semester.
- Students are responsible for all costs associated with finger printing and background checks.
- Attempting to have a new site become an affiliated one can be a time-consuming process. Begin this process as soon as possible or you may risk being unable to enroll in a practicum or internship class.
Learn more about how to get a site approved.
How do I go about getting a site approved that isn’t on the list?
First, you would want to talk with the site and see if they are interested in taking interns. If so, you can contact me and share the following:
1. General information about the agency.
2. What interests you about this particular agency?
3. Provide the name, email, and telephone number for the contact at the agency. I will set up a phone conference with this person to determine appropriate fit.
If this is a private practice, I look extra carefully at these sites. Sometimes a private practice office will not have the caseload to support your required hours. The last thing we would want to see happen is for you to get mid-way through your practicum or internship and not be able to meet your hour commitment for the class. Do not wait until the last minute to see about getting a site approved or it won’t happen. To become an approved site, an affiliation agreement has to be signed between the agency and USF, which can be a lengthy process. The most important thing to do is to start the process early. This is the end of the info needed on that link.
- We encourage you to remain at the same site for both practicum classes. This is a recommendation, not a requirement.
Steps in the field placement process
- Please review your plan of study as that tells you when you will be taking your field
classes and read the Field Placement Handbook.
- Review the Field Placement Preparation Video
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About 4-6 weeks into the Spring and Fall semesters, an announcement will go out via
email stating that now is the time to secure your field placement site. You typically
have a deadline of about 6 weeks to get it secured. *Important – When the announcement goes out in the Spring, this will be for those who are doing
field courses during the Summer and/or Fall so you need to secure for one or both semesters at that time. When the announcement
goes out in the Fall, you are securing for the Spring semester only.
- Please view the Field Information Flyer for specific details on Practicum 1, Practicum 2, and Internship requirements. You
should take appropriate flyer to your interview with potential placement sites.
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All students are required to maintain professional liability coverage when completing their field classes. Each student in the RMHC program is covered through the University of South Florida Health Sciences Center Self-Insurance Program pursuant to Florida Statutes §§768.28 and 1004.24. Such professional liability protection has limits of $1,000,000.00 per claim and $3,000,000.00 per occurrence. USF will maintain such insurance in effect at all times that students are assigned to a field placement agency. If you want to work at your site between semesters, you need to discuss this with your course instructor.
Cohort Prior to Fall 2024: -
When you are ready to secure your site, you will begin looking through our approved site list in the Intern Placement Tracking (IPT) Database to determine the sites that are of interest to you and then create a list. Finding a site is a lot like looking for a job and you have the freedom to choose sites based on your interests and based on your location around Tampa Bay. The IPT website is www.runipt.com. The organization ID is: usfrmhc.
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Once you have your list (it is suggested to have at least 10-15 places of interest), you will email the sites specifying the field class you are trying to find placement for and ask if they have availability to take on an intern. If they have availability at their site, you will schedule an interview with them to determine if it will be a good fit.
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Once you secure your site, you can complete the field placement application below. (Securing your site means that the representative that interviewed you says that they will accept you for your field placement experience). It is inappropriate to complete a field placement application before this step has been accomplished. Once you have been accepted at a site, please discontinue your search and do not schedule any further interviews as it is inappropriate to change sites once you have been accepted. On occasion, there may be exceptions to this rule, but you would need to discuss it with Dr. DePippo. Once your field placement application has been processed, you will receive a permit so you can register for your class through Student Self-Service.
COMPLETE YOUR FIELD PLACEMENT APPLICATION
Fall 2024 Cohort and Beyond
9. When you are ready to secure your site, you will begin looking through our approved site list in Supervision Assist to determine the sites that are of interest to you and then create a list. Finding a site is a lot like looking for a job and you have the freedom to choose sites based on your interests and based on your location around Tampa Bay. Supervision Assist website is Supervision Assist.
10. Once you have your list (it is suggested to have at least 10-15 places of interest), you will email the sites specifying the field class you are trying to find placement for and ask if they have availability to take on an intern. If they have availability at their site, you will schedule an interview with them to determine if it will be a good fit.
11. Once you secure your site, you can complete the field placement application located in Supervision Assist. (Securing your site means that the representative that interviewed you says that they will accept you for your field placement experience). It is inappropriate to complete a field placement application before this step has been accomplished. Once you have been accepted at a site, please discontinue your search and do not schedule any further interviews as it is inappropriate to change sites once you have been accepted. On occasion, there may be exceptions to this rule, but you would need to discuss it with Dr. DePippo. Once your field placement application has been processed, you will receive a permit so you can register for your class through Student Self-Service.