CREATING AN INTERNSHIP CONSORTIUM

1. CREATING AN INTERNSHIP CONSORTIUM Linda K. Knauss, Ph.D., ABPP NCSPP 2007

2. Definition • American Psychological Association • Committee on Accreditation • Guidelines and Principles • Domain C • Program Resources • The program demonstrates that it possess resources of appropriate quality and sufficiency to achieve its training goals and objectives.

3. Internship Consortium • An internship program may consist of, or be located under, a single administrative entity (institution, agency, school, department, etc.) or may take the form of a consortium.

4. Internship Consortium • A consortium is comprised of multiple independently administered entities which have, in writing, formally agreed to pool resources to conduct a training or education program. • Written consortial agreements should articulate:

5. Content of Agreements • The nature and characteristics of the participating entities; • The rationale for the consortial partnership;

6. Content of Agreements • Each partner’s commitment to the training/education program, its philosophy, model, and goals; • Each partner’s obligations regarding contributions and access to resources;

7. Content of Agreements • Each partner’s adherence to central control and coordination of the training program; and • Each partner’s commitment to uniform administration and implementation of the program’s training principles, policies, and procedures addressing trainee/student admission, financial support, training resource access, potential performance expectations, and evaluations.

8. Internship Consortium • An individual consortial partner (member entity) of an accredited consortium may not publicize itself as independently accredited unless it also has independently applied for and received accreditation.

9. Agency Administered Consortium • Two or more agencies cooperate in offering an internship program. • The program may consist of one or more rotations. • The agencies centralize the management of the internship and there is one internship director.

10. Agency Administered Consortium • The internship director assigns interns to rotations and determines the sequence of training. • Students apply to the internship in a manner similar to that for single agency internships. • These internships may or may not be affiliated with a doctoral program.

11. Agency Administered Consortium • The agencies pool their funds to provide internship stipends. • The agencies pool their resources to provide training. • One agency may have a library • Another agency may provide an ethics seminar • Another agency may provide assessment software

12. Agency Administered Consortium • Agencies work together to provide one integrated internship training program. • Agencies that could not provide internship training on their own can have a training program through a consortium. • Agencies that could not be accredited on their own can be accredited through a consortium.

13. Modified Consortium • Widener University • Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology • (IGCP) • APA Approved Pre-doctoral Internship • This administrative entity is the psychology internship site.

14. Modified Consortium • This is a 2-year, half-time exclusively affiliated integrated internship that is an essential component of the doctor of psychology program • Exclusively affiliated means that only students from IGCP are accepted into the internship and all students at ICGP participate in it.

15. Modified Consortium • Integrated means that students continue to receive training in the doctoral program during their internship training. • Thus academic work and clinical field experiences are integrated.

16. Modified Consortium • Most of the didactic training of the internship program is provided through the doctoral program. • Students attend classes two days per week during their internship years. • Classes include case conferences which serve as advanced group supervision.

17. Modified Consortium • The rotation sites where Widener interns receive their clinical training do not have an agreement with each other to pool resources to conduct a training program, nor do they have a written agreement with each other. • The rotation sites work with the IGCP to conduct a training program, and each rotation site has a formal written contract with the IGCP.

18. Modified Consortium • The contract with Widener University (IGCP) includes: • Each rotation’s commitment to the training/education program; • Each rotation’s philosophy, model, and goals; • Each rotation’s obligations regarding contributions and access to resources;

19. Modified Consortium • The contract with Widener University (IGCP) includes: • Each rotation’s adherence to coordination of the training program by the IGCP; and • Each rotation’s commitment to the administration and implementation of the program’s training principles, policies, and procedures by the IGCP.

20. Modified Consortium • Each rotation provides payment to Widener University for the intern’s services. • Thus the intern is not an employee of the rotation site. • Widener University either pays the intern directly, or uses the stipend to offset tuition.

21. Modified Consortium • Every internship rotation completes a Descriptive Outline document which describes the characteristics of the rotation. • These Descriptive Outlines are kept on file in the IGCP and used by prospective interns to help them decide which rotations they would like to complete.

22. Modified Consortium • Each intern completes two rotations. • Each rotation is approximately 1200 hours. • 3 days per week for 12 months

23. Modified Consortium • The IGCP at Widener University is the administrative entity responsible for the internship. • The internship is fully integrated with the doctoral program at Widener University. • The internship director is a faculty member at the IGCP.

24. Modified Consortium • The IGCP internship director assigns the interns to interview at various rotations and makes the final matches between the interns and the rotations. • The IGCP also develops the performance expectations and evaluations. • All intern evaluations are sent to the IGCP internship director.

25. Modified Consortium • Thus each rotation is a partner with the IGCP, but not with each other. • No individual rotation publicizes itself as independently accredited.

26. Modified Consortium • Rotations can be part of an APA accredited internship without meeting all of the accreditation standards alone. • A rotation may have only one intern while the consortium has many interns at many rotations. • A rotation may not have assessment materials, but the IGCP has these materials for the use of the interns.

27. Conclusion • Both traditional and modified consortiums provide additional opportunities for internship training. • The APA Guidelines and Principles for Accreditation encourage “…institutional freedom, ongoing improvement of educational institutions and training programs, sound educational experimentation, and constructive innovation”.

28. Internship Consortium • DISCUSSION

29. Internship Consortium • THANK YOU