School Counseling Practicum and Internship

Field placement experiences are a part of both counseling concentrations. Each experience develops distinct competencies through didactic interaction, experiential activities, and progressive levels of responsibility. Experiential activities in didactic courses offer counseling students an opportunity to practice skills needed for practicum and internship courses.

The practicum is designed to help students develop the required knowledge and counseling skills for the applied setting. The internships provide students with experience in all aspects of professional functioning applicable to their concentration.

The internship is the culminating field experience in the counseling program. It is intended to provide counseling interns with practical, relevant, and meaningful experience whereby the students can relate academic and theoretical learning to field application. The internship experience also provides interns with evaluative feedback on their knowledge, attitudes, and skills with specific client populations.

Interns are expected to assume a broad spectrum of counseling roles and functions. As much as possible, interns are asked to participate in work activities that are similar to those of the supervising counselor. Students who are currently employed in the counseling (or a closely related) field and who intend on counting work hours toward internship requirements should discuss any additional duties (e.g. hours, experiences) that may be required with their advisor.

Each counseling concentration has a separate Practicum/Internship Handbook which outlines the requirements, responsibilities and expectations for students, sites, and the university. Consult the appropriate handbook for more detailed information about how to choose a site, the required number of hours, and other requirements.

School Counseling Practicum and Internship Handbook is linked below.

School Counseling Handbook 2023.docx

Practicum and Internship Application School Year 2024-2025

I hope the semester has started well for each of you. I can't believe it is already time to apply for practicum and internship experiences, but here we are! The form looks very similar this year, but who is applying using this form is very different.

***If you are plan to take Practicum and/or an Internship(s) in Fall 2024 or Spring 2025, you will need to apply now!

Contact your advisor if you have questions about whether this applies to you or not.

We are now applying for experiences starting any time in the 2023-2024 school year. We hope that doing this early will allow us to place students earlier and to get ahead of many other universities in more populated areas.

Link to application: https://forms.gle/DdLNi1WLggNMbr1W6

You need to be logged in to your UTM account to access the form.

Please know that if something changes between application date and when you will be interning, all you need to do is let myself and Melissa Akins (makins6@utm.edu) know of the change. For example, if you move and need to make new preference selections, just let us know. Another example, you get hired as a school counselor for internships, just let us know, and we will make the change.

I have created a video for you to watch to help explain the application process, but here are some points you need to know:

You must submit an application for an experience in the 2024-2025 school year.
Do not contact schools to ask if you can intern with them. All you need to do is list your choices on the form. Melissa will contact schools on your behalf.
You must have proof of liability insurance. You can purchase this by joining ASCA (schoolcounselor.org). Buy the student membership, and your liability insurance is included. This membership is good for one year.
You must pass Praxis before your Practicum experience. If you plan to take Practicum in Fall 2024, UTM must have your scores by July 30, 2024. If you plan to take Practicum in Spring 2025, UTM must have your scores by December 3, 2024. Please be sure you have your scores sent to UTM. If you do not do this, you will have to pay to do it later. Please note that this means you need to take your exam at least 2 weeks prior to the date listed so that UTM has your score by those dates. Also, know that you must have your scores sent to UTM!
If a change needs to be made after submission, don't worry, just let us know.

Form more instructions and an explanation of the form, please watch the following video: https://utm.instructuremedia.com/embed/3d068016-f2b7-4151-b803-fa0b220bbcdb

Selecting a Placement Site

Our Education Preparation Department (EPP) places all school counseling students in practicum and internship sites. Students will be required to submit an application for practicum and internships that will include three options for site placements, and the EPP office will contact the schools/district. Students should NOT contact a school or a district about a placement. The EPP office should be the first to contact a district or school about potential placement.

If you are currently employed, or will be employed, as the school counselor at a site, you will list this site and make note of this on your application. The application allows you to note your current employment and select placement preferences.

Sites have the option of offering or declining to offer a student intern applicant a placement, which is why we require that you offer us three options for potential placements. If more options or needed or if the EPP office has questions, they will contact you, our student, directly.

Be aware that some districts require students to complete an application before interning in their district. This is the student’s responsibility.

*Please note that your elementary internship will be with K-8 students at either an elementary or a middle school. Your secondary internship will be with 9-12 students at a high school. A middle school is not an acceptable placement for the secondary internship.

Please remember that all site supervisors must be currently licensed school counselors with at least 2 years of experience.

You can also consult our list of previous sites we have worked with:

Site Supervisor Master List 2020.xlsx

Practicum Information

The online Practicum application needs to be completed and submitted before you can register for the Practicum class. As soon as it is approved, your Banner account will be coded to allow you to register for the practicum class.

The practicum placement can be completed either in elementary (kindergarten - 8th grade) or secondary (9th - 12th grade). The student must complete 100 hours during 10 weeks of the semester.

Praxis Deadline - School Counseling (5422)

If you have not passed your Praxis by December 3rd for a spring practicum or July 30th for a fall practicum, you will not be permitted to go your practicum placement. You will be removed from the course, and the EPP office will pull you from your placement site.

Practicum Procedure

Step 1:

Professional Liability Insurance

School counseling majors: Visit the American School Counselor Association at schoolcounselor.org for online application. You must obtain ASCA liability insurance by purchasing a student membership.

Joining your professional organization as a student member provides the liability insurance you will need. To show proof of this, submit a copy of your membership certificate.

You will need to save a PDF document to upload in the Practicum Application. This document needs to have your membership number and the expiration date. This could be the receipt or a copy of an email with your membership information.

Step 2:

Criminal Background Check Policy

According to Tennessee law, every student MUST obtain a Criminal Background Check prior to admission to the UT Martin Educator Preparation Program and any in-school observations. This Background Check MUST be conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). There are two exceptions to this rule: (1) The teacher candidate is currently employed in a school system and can provide a copy of the background check in accordance with above guidelines OR (2) The teacher candidate has had a “Child-Related Worker Private” TBI Background Check in the last calendar year and can provide a copy of the Background Check. (Example: Today is September 28, 2017: Student A had a background check on September 28, 2016, she can utilize it; Student B had a background check on September 27, 2017, she cannot utilize it). Please direct all questions to Ms. Staci Fuqua, sfuqua2@utm.edu, or 731.881.7203.

- you will be require to upload a completed copy of this form into the Practicum application

VECHS Waiver Agreement and Statement

- you will be require to upload a completed copy of this form into the Practicum application

Step 3:

Complete the Practicum Application

https://forms.gle/DdLNi1WLggNMbr1W6

Internship Information

The internship placement is 300 hours in elementary (kindergarten - 8th grade) and 300 hours in secondary (9th - 12th grade). The order in which these are completed is up to the student or the availability of the placement. You do have the option to complete both internships in one semester, even though they are in the same semester you are still required to have two different experiences, one in elementary (K-8th grade) and secondary (9th-12th grade).

Note: Selecting schools in the same school district will make it quicker to secure your placements.

Step 1:

Professional Liability Insurance

School counseling majors: Visit the American School Counselor Association at https://schoolcounselor.org/ for online application. You must obtain ASCA liability insurance by purchasing a student membership.

Joining your professional organization as a student member provides the liability insurance you will need. To show proof of this, submit a copy of your membership certificate.

You will need to save a PDF document to upload in the Internship Application. This document needs to have your membership number and the expiration date. This could be the receipt or a copy of an email with your membership information.

Step 2:

Complete the Internship Application

https://forms.gle/DdLNi1WLggNMbr1W6

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