Prospective McCune Internship Applicants

Sara Miller McCune Endowed Internship and Public Service Program

2027-2028 Application Due April or May 2027

Info Sessions: April 2027
 

The Sara Miller McCune Endowed Internship and Public Service Program is a year-long service-learning program that combines academic study with a paid internship at a local nonprofit organization. The program places civic-minded UC Santa Barbara students with public service organizations in the Santa Barbara area, where they gain hands-on experience, contribute meaningfully to the work of their host organizations, and explore their own interests, values, and future goals. To participate, students must be upper-division undergraduates at UCSB and enrolled for the full academic year.

Students who are selected to serve as interns receive stipends no less than $2,500 and eight (8) units of course credit. They spend the fall quarter in a preparatory seminar, for which they receive four (4) units of academic credit. The course, entitled “Seminar in Social Ethics” (RGST 156CC), involves assigned readings and class presentations by leaders of local nonprofits or non-governmental organizations. It helps to prepare students for their internships and provides them with training to pursue a career in the nonprofit sector. During the winter and spring quarters, students serve as paid interns for a total of 200 hours (10 hours per week) in a local nonprofit organization under the supervision of a staff mentor, and also attend two meetings with the internship program coordinator. Participating students are paid half of their stipend for fulfilling their fall/winter requirements and the other half for completing the requirements for the spring quarter. In the spring quarter, in addition to their internships, students enroll in an Independent Studies course for which they receive four (4) units of academic credit. In this course, students prepare a paper integrating what they have learned through their studies and internship experiences. Finally, at the end of the academic year, each cohort of students participates in an end-of-year certificate ceremony.