Local change. National networks.
Semester for Impact (SFI) is a full-time, credit-bearing internship program educating and empowering the problem solvers of tomorrow. Open to all UVM students, the SFI program matches students with 30 hour/week internship in Vermont’s social change sector and awards up to 15 UVM credits toward your degree.
Drawing from the success and resources of Semester in the City: Boston, the sibling program of Semester for Impact, and in connection with other colleges around New England, SFI students are part of a diverse and multi-talented national cohort dedicated to social change.
Any questions? Contact Semester for Impact Director, Alex Johnson, or UVM College of Arts & Sciences Internship Program Coordinator, Kelly Smith.
Program Components:
Semester for Impact is comprised of several components that make up your typical week in the program, plus a 3-day Launch Week.
3-day Launch Week Workshop
Students will attend a 3-day workshop in Boston at the beginning of the semester to begin building cohort identity, relationships, and start training as problem solvers.
Travel and lodging arrangements are made directly with SFI and costs are covered for students.
400-hour Internship
Students accepted to the program will be matched with an internship in the greater Burlington community that is focused on social change. All internships will be with a nonprofit, social mission business, or government agency. Internship sites are developed and uniquely tailored toward students’ interests.
Students will work full-time Monday through Thursday at their internship so that they are on the job enough to do real meaningful work and become part of the team. During the course of the semester, students will receive direct, intentional mentorship from social change leaders and complete a scaffolded special project for their internship sites.
Social Innovator’s Toolbox (Wednesday seminar)
This course will expose students to the concepts and practices associated with social innovation and social entrepreneurship – i.e., the development and growth of new, sustainable, and scalable approaches to the major social economic, and environmental challenges facing society. Students will learn a variety of tools and methods used for the development, implementation, management, and assessment of social solutions that they will be able to use over the course of their careers. The course will emphasize the systemic, interdisciplinary, and often cross-sector nature of both the problems and their solutions.
Social Innovator’s Toolbox will be an online course in which students based in other New England colleges are also enrolled. If a student would like to take a normal, unrelated UVM course in place of Social Innovator’s Toolbox (in order to fulfil a requirement), they may choose to do so with permission from the College of Arts & Sciences Internship & Experiential Learning office.
Becoming a Problem Solver (Friday workshop)
On Fridays, interns will begin to develop their professional identity and understand how to navigate the workplace as they get a feel for their career path. Interns will interact with peers, identify and leverage their strengths and share their internship experiences. Through the “Becoming a Problem Solver” course, students will get experience solving problems within the workplace and within the nonprofit and social organization sector.
This course will be in a hybrid modality–with part of Friday online alongside students enrolled at other New England colleges, and the other part taking place on campus, in-person.
How does the program work?
Semester for Impact is the only way to dedicate an entire semester to an internship in Burlington whilst remaining enrolled at UVM.
Credit Information
SFI is designed to fit into a typical CAS student’s curriculum as elective credit. If you have concerns or questions regarding how the program will fit into your schedule, please contact cas.internships@uvm.edu.
UVM students will earn 15 credits for this program:
- 9 internship credits under CAS 2991 for the 400-hour internship
- 3 academic credits under CAS 1990 for the Becoming a Problem Solver course
- 3 academic credits under CAS 2990 for the Social Innovator’s Toolbox course
These credits will count as electives unless the student receives permission to count some or all credits toward their major or minor from their department chairperson.
If a student needs to take a regular UVM course to maintain a trajectory (i.e. SPAN 002 after taking SPAN 001) or to fulfil a requirement instead of taking the Social Innovator’s Toolbox course, they may seek permission to do so from the College of Arts & Sciences Internship & Experiential Learning office. However, the CAS 2991 internship credit and the CAS 1990 credit for Becoming a Problem Solver are both requirements of this program.
Financial Information
Students will pay their normal tuition and fees to UVM and maintain their existing arrangements regarding housing, food, personal expenses, etc.
Students will receive the following from SFI:
- $595 stipend to use during the semester
- Travel + cost reimbursement in order to attend the 3-day Launch event in Boston
- $2,000 from our partners at AmeriCorps upon completion of all internship hours and assignments
About the Application
The application is designed to take about 15 minutes to complete and is comprised of demographic information and several short answer questions.
If you have trouble at any point, you may reach out to the SFI team directly at sfi@collegeforsocialinnovation.org.
After you submit your application, you will hear from a member of the SFI recruitment team about next steps.
Eligibility Requirements
UVM students must meet the following requirements in order to participate in Semester for Impact:
- At least sophomore standing during the semester you intend to participate. In some rare cases we will consider a student with first-year standing who is in their second year at UVM.
- GPA above 2.0
International students who hold F-1 or J-1 visa status must seek permission from the Office of International Education in order to participate.
Student Testimonials
“At first, it was intimidating because it felt like so many things could go wrong- you could be asked questions you didn’t understand, or be given a problem you couldn’t solve, or even be faced with an angry patron. But through practice and support from my mentor, I got the hang of it, and now I work the desk like a rockstar.”
Computer Science ’26
Elijah Nunez
Fletcher Free Library“SFI taught me a lot about how to adjust to doing new things, especially without the sheltered environment that the academic setting provides. I had never been a reporter before and especially as I started to write stories I cared about, stories that had real stakes in people’s lives, it was really hard to not put an incredible pressure on myself. My mentor helped me focus on what mattered, and instead of scaring me, the high stakes of my work made it feel even more worth doing.”
Global Studies ’25
Charlotte Oliver
Community News ServiceA UVM College of Arts & Sciences collaboration with:
Still have questions?
Email cas.internships@uvm.edu — our team would be happy to assist.
