Mentoring Devcom Interns

Welcome to the online resource for the BS Development Communication (BSDC) Internship Program for Academic Year 2024-2025!

The internship period is considered the transition period between theory and practice; between study and work. It could be looked upon as an opportunity for additional exposure to communication work; a chance to demonstrate, apply and polish skills and knowledge acquired in development communication courses. 

During Midyear 2025, CDC will be offering DEVC 198 Communication Internship in two modes: (1) fully online/virtual and  (2) blended (in-person/on-site and online/virtual) modes .

Objectives

The development communication internship program aims to:

• • 1. Bridge theory and practice by providing students the opportunity to acquire practical knowledge, skills, and proper work ethic from a reputable development-oriented institution;

    2. Enhance students’ work competencies and discipline as they relate to people in the workplace;

    3. Provide opportunities for students to learn from and network with experienced professionals; and

    4. Help students identify their future career directions.  

While the UP Los Baños (UPLB) College of Development Communication (CDC) offers DEVC 198 every semester, the internship season for junior devcom students is during the Midyear/Summer where roughly 80 prospective interns are linked with various development agencies. The internship is also taken by students during the regular semester for agencies with predominantly outputs-based tasks.

We, at CDC, are constantly looking for prospective internship agencies that can help mentor our students in development communication (devcom) work –as well as possible partner agencies for our wide range of devcom courses.

Course Number: DEVC 198

Course Title: Communication Internship

Description: Supervised work experience in development journalism, community broadcasting, educational communication, and science communication (3 units)

Prerequisite: 7 generalist/specialization courses and Consent of Instructor (COI)

Students under the generalist curriculum should have passed at least seven (7) generalist/specialization courses.

1. DEVC 125. Writing and Reporting for Development

2. DEVC 126. Participatory Development Journalism

3. DEVC 127. Data Journalism for Development

4. DEVC 128. Science Journalism

5. DEVC 135. Multi-media Materials Planning and Design

6. DEVC 136. Multi-media Materials Production and Management

7. DEVC 144. Media-Based Learning Systems

8. DEVC 145. Distance Learning Systems in Development Communication Practice

9. DEVC 153. Managing Information for Development

10. DEVC 154. Communicating Science for Development

11. DEVC 155. Knowledge Management for Development

Course Objectives

The development communication internship program aims to:

• • 1. Bridge theory and practice by providing students the opportunity to acquire practical knowledge, skills, and proper work ethic from a reputable development-oriented institution;

    2. Enhance students’ work competencies and discipline as they relate to people in the workplace;

    3. Provide opportunities for students to learn from and network with experienced professionals; and

    4. Help students identify their future career directions.  

Important Dates for the Midyear 2025 BSDC Internship Program 

Preparations for the Midyear 2025 BSDC Internship Program

(March-June 16, 2025)

March 2025

• March 4, 2025 – Initial committee meeting to draft policies and guidelines for the Midyear 2025 CDC Internship Program

• March 4-14, 2025 – send letters of inquiry to internship agencies; deploy DEVC 198 survey to prospective Midyear 2025 devcom interns

April 2025

• 1. • April 7, 2025 (Mon, 2pm at the CDC LR1) – orientation for prospective interns

• April 11, 2025 (Fri) – last day of accepting requests for devcom interns from prospective internship agencies

• April 16, 2025 (Wed) – opening of internship application portal; Start of application submissions

• April 16 (Wed) to 23 (Wed), 2025 – Internship application period

• April 25, 2025 (Fri) – forwarding intern application files to internship agencies

• April 25 (Fri)-May 9 (Fri) – period of application review for internship agencies

May 2025

• May 9, 2025 (Friday)  – start of release of list of accepted interns via 1243 Prospective Devcom Interns (Midyear 2025) Facebook Group

  1. • May 9 to June 13 (Friday), 2025 

       • • confirmation of internship assignments

         • distribution of agencies to DEVC 198 sections AC1-AC5 (to be posted in the 1243 Prospective Devcom Interns (Midyear 2025) Facebook Group

         • processing of DEVC 198 TOR per internship agency

         • issuance of CDC endorsement letter of interns to agencies

June 2025

• June 9-10, 2025 (Mon-Tue) –  completion/removal period

Midyear 2025 BSDC Internship Period

(June 16-July 28, 2025)

June 2025

• 1. • June 11-13, 2025 (Mon-Wed) – General registration, review of COI applications in DEVC 198 sections AC1-AC5 via DX AMIS

     • June 16, 2025 (Mon) – Start of classes

July 2025

• 1. • July 19, 2025 (Sat) – Last day of classes

     • July 22-23, 2025 (Tue-Wed) – Final exams

     • July 28, 2025 (Mon) – Deadline of grades

Post-Midyear 2025 BSDC Internship Program

(July 28-August 2025)

July 2025

• 1. • [DEVC 198 FICs] Submission of compiled DEVC 198 class files (fieldwork docs, LOAs, gradesheets, eval forms) to the CDC Internship Committee for archiving

     • Issuance of certificate of appreciation for internship agencies

     • Post-internship evaluation (interviews/survey) for internship stakeholders

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Internship Agencies or Host Training Establishments (HTEs)

How can we request for devcom interns from UPLB CDC?

If you wish to host devcom interns for the BSDC Internship Program, please draft a letter of request addressed to the CDC Dean and send it to internship@devcom.edu.ph.

EDMUND G. CENTENO, PhD, FHEA

Dean

College of Development Communication

University of the Philippines Los Baños

Los Baños, Laguna 4031

Please include the following details in your letter of request for devcom interns:

1. number of interns requested;

2. *mode of internship – (a) purely online/virtual or (b) blended mode (in-person/on-site and online/virtual) 

If the mode varies per type of intern post, please specify which posts are purely online, as well as posts for blended mode requiring with in-person/on-site reporting;

3. tasks/responsibilities/outputs expected from the interns;

4. requirements/qualifications for internship applicants;

5. application process and schedule; and

6. name and contact details of the internship supervisor.

This set of information will be presented during the BSDC Internship Program Orientation. Should you have any questions or concerns about the internship details, please do not hesitate to contact us through internship@devcom.edu.ph. Sample agency internship postings from Midyear 2019, Midyear 2020, Midyear 2021, Midyear 2022, and Midyear 2023 can be viewed here.

For the Academic Year 2021-2022, the devcom internship will be conducted (1) fully online in virtual or remote setup or (2) in-person/on-site mode.

What’s the difference between the fully online/virtual internship setup and in-person/on-site internship setup?

The fully online/virtual internship setup:

• requires no in-person/on-site reporting for the internship,

• is ideal for students who seek to render their internship in agencies whose offices are located far from the student’s place of residence, and

• is recommended for agencies with limited work space and/or human resources

The in-person/on-site internship setup:

• requires the prospective interns to report to the agency and/or location of the agency’s field work;

internship agencies may require the interns to report in-person/on-site in the workplace once, for half of, or during most of their internship period

• will be clearly specified in the agency's internship posting.

We have a list of identified devcom interns that we want to host for the internship (based on previous partnerships with the students’ group/class projects, volunteer work, informal internships, etc), is it possible to shortlist these students for our agency? 

Yes, that can be arranged as long as the student has:

• 1. 1. 1. 1. satisfied the DEVC 198 Internship prerequisites

           2. completely submitted all the required documents

           3. established no relatives within the Fourth Degree of Consanguinity or Affinity (“Relatives refers to any and all persons related to a public official or employee within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity, including BILAS, INSO and BALAE”) in the unit that s/he will reporting to for the internship, as well as relatives in higher level posts within the organization that may influence the assessment of the agency supervisor on the intern’s performance.

The agency can include the names of the students in their letter of request for devcom interns.

We have reviewed the requirements for internship application but need additional documents for our intern hiring. Is it okay for us to conduct interviews/exams during the application process? And ask for additional documents?

Yes, the internship agencies may request for additional document requirements, as well as conduct interviews/exams, to help them assess the prospective intern’s skills and competency –and overall fit for the internship post and agency.