Securing your Site

It is your responsibility to locate a placement site and submit all required documentation related to fieldwork. The best practice is to begin your exploration early to ensure that the University approval process does not delay the start of your fieldwork course. Purdue Global requires that all fieldwork sites be approved in writing before the beginning of any fieldwork hours. You will not be eligible to register for the fieldwork course until all pre-experience paperwork is submitted to and approved by Purdue Global.

You will want to carefully consider the selection of a potential site for fieldwork. The placement is an opportunity for you to explore career opportunities and participate in supervised projects in a real-world setting. You will be required to complete a minimum of 150 hours in conjunction with your fieldwork course, PS545. 

Appropriate sites include the following:

•        Businesses

•        Nonprofits

•        Hospitals

•        Clinics

•        Consulting firms

•        Human resources

The first step in the placement process is to create an account CORE ELMs, PG's document tracking system for placements.  You will receive a link to create a CORE ELMS account from your Education Advisor about 2-3 terms prior to your tentative fieldwork start date. Once you have submitted the request it will be processed and approved by Clinical Placement Staff.  Approvals are completed within five business days after a request is submitted.  You will know when the approval is finalized because at that time you will receive an email with your CORE ELMs log in credentials. 

The log in instructions will be sent to the primary email address you list when you set up your CORE account.  Email filters occasionally send email from CORE ELMS to junk mail, so if you do not receive the log in email within a week of submitting your application be sure to check your junk mail folder.  Once you have received the email, log in to CORE ELMS per instructions provided.

From there, proceed to the Step-by-Step instructions found at the bottom of the Home Page of CORE ELMS.  Those instructions will guide you through the step by step process of preparing for practicum. 

Once your CORE account is set up the next step is to submit your Application for Placement.  You will submit a list of ten sites you are interested in working with for your fieldwork.

Once your application is submitted it will be reviewed by the Clinical Placement Team.  Your application MUST BE APPROVED prior to you contacting sites to discuss your placement. 

The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences has industry partners across the country who have made a commitment to hosting our students for fieldwork.  Students are encouraged to start their site search by accessing the partnership map and considering a placement with an already established Purdue Global partner site.

The following is a link to our partnership map that lists all partner organizations. When you click on the link, you can scroll into your local area by clicking the “+ - “button on the lower right part of the map. Each specific concentration is indicated by colored pins. (ABA–blue, Addictions–red, and I/O–green). When you click on a specific pin on the map, you can find information about that specific organization. Please use our partnership map to see if there is a potential fieldwork opportunity in your area. These sites have agreed to interview and potentially host fieldwork students, so we encourage you to start your search for a site and site supervisor using the partnership map by clicking this link.

Once you are approved to begin contacting sites, if you reach out to a partner, be sure to inform them you are a Purdue Global student, and that you are contacting them as they are a Purdue Global partner who has indicated an interest in supervising students in fieldwork.

Qualified Industrial and Organizational Psychology field placement supervisors must hold a master’s degree or higher in Psychology or related field and must occupy a managerial role within the organization selected for field placement. They must be willing to work collaboratively with you to determine project goals and focus within an I/O framework.

Contacting supervisors is essential to your ability to secure them for placement. While it is tempting to look online and apply for vacant internship positions, please follow the guidelines as set forth in the Step by Step Instructions in CORE. You may find that supervisors have a position or can create a fieldwork position for you, even if they do not have one listed online. When contacting one of our partners, please be sure to let them know you are from Purdue University Global. Additionally, contacting supervisors directly will give the person your name and information, which will make you more memorable than just another application online. Please note that you will need to follow up with sites, and the steps below are not completely linear.

You will not begin contacting sites until after your application has been approved.   Once you receive the approval you can begin making contacts.  Securing a supervisor and site can be a long process. It will take consistent effort, probably over an extended period, to ensure a supervisor and site is finalized. Remember, every interaction you have with the supervisor and site is an “interview,” so all communication should be professional. The steps listed below are not linear, but provide an outline of a process to follow. Please remember that the first 10 potential placement sites/supervisors must be approved on your application before you contact them.

Here is an outline of how to approach the process of contacting sites:

–      On the initial call introduce yourself, and explain the reason for your call.

–      Request to speak to an individual who is involved in the oversight of practicum/internship students. If there is no one at the facility designated to supervise students, ask to speak to Human Resources or a supervisor.

–      Explain your program requirements and field work needs.

–      If the site is interested, provide the contact with appropriate program documents as outlined in your Step by Step instructions.

*Be sure to get the contact person’s full name and direct contact information.

*Contact site (usually within 3–5 days) to follow up with information sent.

    *If possible, set an appointment for the follow-up during your initial conversation.

Keep a log of the sites you have contacted, the date of each contact, and the names of the individaul(s) you speak to.  That will help you know when to follow up with each site at the appropriate time (3-5 business days after the initial contact) and provide you with reminders regarding who to reach out to.

Each site that is interested will have a different expectation of the process.  If a site communicates they are interested in hosting you, ask them if they have a preferred process for the next steps, then work with the site to determine the next steps.  If they do not have a preferred process, provide the site with the Facility Handbook, Purdue Global Affiliation Agreement, and contacts form.  These must be signed to secure the site.  Ask the site to review the documents and ask when you should follow up with them.  If they do not suggest a specific time frame for the follow up, reach out to the site once per week to check on how things are progressing.

DO NOT count on a specific site until the signed Affiliation Agreement has been approved.  Continue to contact sites until there is a signed agreement in place.

Deadlines for submission prior to each academic term are found on the home page of CORE ELMS.

Once the affiliation agreement has been signed, submit the approved and signed agreement to CORE ELMS in the requirements section, under Affiliation Agreement.

The next steps to finalizing your site are to:

–      Submit the contacts form to CORE ELMS in the requirements section, under contact form

–      Submit a copy of your supervisor’s credentials to CORE ELMS in the requirements section, under supervisor credentials

–      If the site is or will be your employer, you must submit the paid addendum, found in the document library

Once your documents are submitted they will be reviewed by your Clinical Student Manager.   If the document(s) need revision that will be noted in CORE and you will be asked to resubmit the document.