Internship Sites/Employers

Internship Opportunities

California State University East Bay (CSUEB) is committed to building partnerships with employers that choose to host an internship experience at their job site with the intention of connecting academic content to career experience, and learning specific career skill sets needed for their profession. All sites wanting to partner with CSUEB must abide by the .  

At CSUEB, we are required to collect information about the positions employers wish to offer our students for academic credit. We use the CalStateS4 system to collect this information. In conjunction with Handshake, we provide a streamlined workflow that allows you to offer our students both pre-approved credit-bearing internships or report internship information necessary for us to award credit after you have selected a student to fill your internship position. 

Review this Employer Guide for an overview of the process to start an internship for academic credit for Cal State East Bay students.

Posting Internships In Handshake

Handshake is the recruiting platform for CSUEB students and alumni.  Handshake uses cutting edge technology to assist students with identifying and connecting with employers, posting careers and open internships, event information, and more. 

Employers can use Handshake as a recruitment tool, to identify qualified candidates for open positions and manage on-campus recruitment activities.

This online career development management system includes:

  • Thousands of Job and Internship listings
  • Resume, cover letter and transcript upload, storage, and submission
  • On-campus interview scheduling, workshops and employer information sessions
  • Registering for CSUEB Career Fairs
  • And more…

to create an account or login to Handshake 

For assistance with getting started, please visit the for employers. 

Employer Partnerships

The  welcomes partnership agreements with external employers. If your organization is interested in establishing an official partnership with Cal State East Bay, please complete our . 

Internships for Academic Credit

The  is an online database used to manage student academic placements with approved employers. Students are enrolled in a course for academic credit while completing an academic internship that is closely aligned with their major or career interest. The database simplifies the student placement process while measuring students’ impact on their community.

CalStateS4 enables the campus to more efficiently capture student’s academic internship experiences while it also provides students, faculty, and employers with a user-friendly interface.

Employers interested in providing an internship for academic credit to a Cal State East Bay student are required to complete a Request to Initiate Partnership (RTIP), found in . The RTIP is meant for employers to initiate a partnership with Cal State East Bay, identify selected student intern(s), and to post open opportunities. First time hosts are asked to complete the Request to Initiate Partnership (RTIP) form:

RTIP - Sample (viewing only)

Once the forms have been completed and submitted a member of the academic internship team will review your submission. Please allow three to five business days for this review. You may receive follow up emails from our team requesting clarifying information, if necessary.

Employers offering unpaid internships must complete a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for final approval of the site on CalStateS4. You can find a sample of the agreement here:

Please do not sign this sample agreement. An official copy of the electronic MOU will be issued to you (or the appropriate person you identify in the RTIP) via email and can be signed and returned online.

Once we receive your signed agreement, we will approve your account in CalStateS4 and you will receive one final email inviting you to create an account. With this account you will be able to submit future academic internship opportunities quickly and simply for approval.

*Paid internships will bypass the MOU requirement when being processed per CSU Chancellor Office guidelines. 

Previously approved employers can submit additional academic internship opportunities now, or in the future. The site contact can submit additional opportunities using the login information sent vial email. To add a new opportunity, please follow the steps below:

  1. Navigate to  
  2. Click “Community Partner Login”
  3. Log in using your email address and password
  4. On the dashboard, under “Your affiliated sites”, click Edit Site Information
  5. At the top of the page, click the Opportunities tab
  6. Create an opportunity
    1. If you would like to enter a new position
      1. In the top right corner, click the green “Add New Opportunity” Button
      2. Complete the New Opportunity form and submit
    2. If you would like to re-approve an previous opportunity (use it as a template)
      1. Click Copy next to the opportunity you wish to copy
      2. Modify the submission entries as needed and submit

Please allow three to five business days for your opportunity to be reviewed. A member of the academic internship team will reach out to you if any clarification is required. Once approved, students will be eligible to receive credit for this opportunity. 

NOTE: During the Fall and Spring semesters, students can work up to 20 hours/week at an internship site. During the Summer, students can work up to 40 hours/week, with the possibility of receiving overtime.

If you can answer "Yes" to any of the statements below, please submit a new site contact form. 

  1. You Have additional people who want to register academic internship opportunities for your organization for CSU East Bay students.
  2. You know that your organization has already partnered with CSU East Bay for academic internships but you don’t have an account.
  3. The site contact that is listed for your site is no longer in that position and you need to update your site contact.

Simply navigate to and complete the form. A team member will contact you if necessary. 

Roles and Responsibilities on Campus

The Association on Higher Education And Disability outlines how the student, faculty and disability services office may typically work together:

Student Role

  • Provide medical and/or psychological documentation to Accessibility Services
  • Participate in process of determining and implementing reasonable accommodations
  • Inform Accessibility Services when accommodations are not working, need to be modified or symptoms change

Faculty Role

  • Referral to Accessibility Services
  • Participate in process to determine and implement reasonable accommodations
  • Identify essential course components for accommodations to be determined
  • Request assistance (from Accessibility Services) with accommodation, implementation, or consultation

Accessibility Services Role

  • Maintain medical/psychological documentation in a confidential manner
  • Determine if condition(s) are a disability in accordance with state and federal laws
  • Identify and assist with implementation of reasonable accommodations
  • Request updated documentation when symptoms change to determine if accommodations need to be modified
  • Provide information and referral to campus and community resources to resolve accessibility-related issues
For more information on creating a welcoming environment for students please contact .

Internship site best practice for a great experience!

Plan to "welcome" your intern!

Plan a "Welcome Schedule" to welcome your new intern to your internship site.  Review safety and expectations with your intern the first week they arrive. For examples see our .

Check-In with your Intern

Pre plan ,  mid term check-in agenda's and exit interviews to ensure your intern is learning and having a great experience.

Assessing your internship site experience

If your internship site is registered with S4, you will be asked to complete the CSUEB post assessment.  This will help us meet your site needs for future placements. 

Disclaimer

  • CSUEB does not recommend students accepting a non-paid non-credit internship experience for safety and liability reasons. CSUEB requires all partners to abide by our Federal, State laws, and Executive Orders and regulations.  
  • There is always a level of risk involved when coordinating internship opportunities for students.  Please refer to our  and the Employer Guidelines that address risk and liability compliance.
  • To report an incident please email: internships@csueastbay.edu

Research on Internships

National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)

The National Association of Colleges and Employers connects campus recruiting and career services professionals and provides best practices, trends, research, professional development, and conferences.

 for continuously updated info and resources, including:

Dress for Success