by Zarana Sanghani
Staff Writer
The University of Houston Graduate School of Social Work's ninth annual Field Agency Marketplace will bring Houston's most prominent social-service agencies to UH to offer social work students internship information.
Eighty agencies will attend the Marketplace today. The event began as a means to give graduate social work students the opportunity to learn about a wide range of agencies that provide internships.
Social work graduate students are required to take two field placements, or internships. Advisors assign field placements during the first, or "foundation," year. The second year, the "concentration year," students choose field placements according to their specialties.
The Marketplace theme this year is "Taking Flight: Facilitating Positive Change." The conference will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the University Center's Houston Room.
"(The Marketplace) gives our students open access to as many community agencies as we could get together," Associate Director of Field Candace Spearman said. "Before, we used to just tell the students which agency to go to."
The agencies vary from those that service homeless centers to those that work in political leaders' offices.
"We take a really broad definition of (agencies)," Spearman said.
The Marketplace is primarily for graduate students, although undergraduates are invited to come learn about social services.
Social work graduate student Kathryne Tedersen attended previous Marketplaces and is a volunteer for this year's event. Last year, she found an internship at Hermann Hospital.
"I think it's a wonderful opportunity to evaluate a number of institutes and social work affiliates," Tedersen said. "To do this kind of (research) independently would take months."
The Marketplace will make special efforts to recruit minority social work students.
"There are a lot of agencies who serve particular minority groups," Spearman said. What they're trying to do is get positive role models for them by recruiting interns from the various minority groups, she said.
In addition to the Marketplace, student volunteers will run an Employment Center with information on job opportunities.
The Employment Center will present a seminar on using the Internet for job searches from 11 a.m. to noon and a seminar on licensure from noon to 1 p.m.
The Student Task Force, composed of social work graduate students is responsible for the event's production.