Public Policy Field Placement
POST 4850H: Public Policy Field Placement
Are you interested in public policy and gaining work experience? The Public Policy Field Placement course is for you!
POST 4850H provides students with practical experience working part time for a nonprofit organization or government office engaged in public policy. The nature of the work will vary depending on the partnering organization and its needs, but relevant activities could include research and data collection to support policy/program development, the development of presentations and communication materials for internal and external use, liaising with and responding to inquiries from other groups or the public, and the evaluation of policy/program results.
Field Placements involve a total of 72 hours of work over the course of one term. This works out to 8 hours/week for 9 weeks, though you may be able to make other arrangements with your workplace supervisor. Students must also participate in three class meetings: an introductory meeting at the beginning of the term, a midterm check-in, and a reflective colloquium where students discuss their placement experiences at the end of the term. Evaluation is comprised of written assignments, a reflective presentation, and a workplace assessment completed by the workplace supervisor in consultation with the course instructor.
Course Enrollment
If you are interested in the course, please register on the waitlist for POST 4850H Public Policy Field Placement when you select your courses. You will be formally registered in the course once you have been matched with a host organization.
We cannot guarantee that every student who expresses interest in and meets the minimum requirements for the course will find a placement. The course instructor and Careerspace will help students to hone their application materials, provide interview advice, and connect students with potential host organizations. However, enrollment in the course depends on a match being made between a student and a host organization.
Here is the basic enrollment process:
- Notification of Interest: Students contact the course instructor to express interest in a Field Placement. This should be done by the end of September.
- Pre-Screening Meeting: The instructor meets with each student to determine eligibility (15.0 university credits and a 77% average) and get a sense of the student’s areas of interest. These meetings will usually be held in late September-early October.
- Preparation of Application Materials: Students meet with a member of the Careerspace team for a résumé critique and prepare their cover letters and résumés for use.
- Screening Interview: After cover letters and résumés are polished, a member of the Careerspace team will meet each student to discuss previous experience, interests and placement opportunities.
- Applications, Interviews and Matching: Careerspace will submit each student’s application to the placement opportunities they select. Host organizations will assess applications and determine which candidates they would like to interview and offer placements to.
- Enrollment: Once a student is matched with a host organization, they will be officially enrolled in the course.
- Initial course meeting: Early January.
As you can see, we purposely run the course during the Winter term so that we can work with students to arrange placements during the Fall term.
Enrollment/scheduling note: the Academic Timetable suggests a weekly two-hour time slot associated with the course, though this is misleading. There are only 3 class meetings, which are at the beginning, middle and end of the term.
For more information, please contact:
Devin Penner
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Political Studies
Phone: (705) 748-1011 ext. 6044
E-mail: devinpenner@trentu.ca
Student Experience
“The placement was a wonderful experience for my professional development. I was placed at a children’s aid society, where I had the opportunity to learn about legislation and professional practices governing the sector. I worked on a project analyzing permanency outcomes for the society’s clients – my work may translate into staffing changes to better support clients as well as a youth engagement process to better tailor internal policy and services to local needs. I have already highlighted writing and communications skills learned in my placement (e.g. press release, briefing note, etc.) in applications and interviews for jobs. I would recommend this to any politics (or politics-adjacent) student if they want to learn relevant skills and make professional connections!”
- Lauren (2019-2020)
“I cannot recommend the course enough. Placed in a municipal office, I was directly engaged within the by-law creation process while also supporting the community and its government in a variety of ways. Not every placement brings the same teachings and experiences. Some focus on an overarching major project, others focus on research, and some like mine focus on government support. Any of these would be an amazing opportunity. From the interview process to the work and communications skills gained, the whole experience will help you grow as a person while better preparing you for the workforce. If you want a chance to bolster your resume while gaining skills and experiences that will stay with you for life, this is the course for you.”
- Brady (2019-2020)
“The political studies field placement was by far one of the highlights of my undergrad. The course allows you to apply all the skills and knowledge learned throughout your studies and work on real-life projects. In my placement I worked on a paper on provincial and federal funding models for rape crisis centres, examining the different governments' approaches in response to cultural phenomena surrounding sexual and gender-based violence. My time working for the organization expanded my network and contacts and offered future opportunities to stay involved. Overall, the course provides practical experience with government and not-for-profit organizations that helps you navigate potential career paths and develop skills useful for future employment opportunities.”
- Vanessa (2019-2020)