1.What is field placement?

Answer: It's a course that provides the final bridge between your academic and practical experience "in here" and the workplace "out there." After ramping up your abilities in increasingly realistic journalism situations - culminating in your experience on our genuine newspapers, the (East York and online) Observers - we put you in an outside, real-world newsroom. There, under established editors and news directors, and alongside working front-line journalists, you apply the principles you've learned in Centennial's journalism program: techniques around reporting, editing and production, and professional practices around collaboration with supervisors, newsroom culture, etc. Immersion in this environment, full-time for 15 weeks, is the final building block in your education here.

2. What are the benefits of taking field placement?

Answer: In some cases, you might be asked to stay on in a paid capacity at your placement venue. But in most cases, the most tangible benefits are a resume entry from a professional news organization and a portfolio or "tape" of published or broadcast work from that organization that you can use in your job search - even before graduating. Of course, the intangibles - the honing of your technical skills and the orientation to professional journalism culture - are also key.

3. What credits or courses do I need in order to be eligible for field placement?

Answer: You must have succeeded in every single course of the program (both journalism courses and non-journalism courses, without exception) before going out on placement. Most students achieve this by the end of the fall semester of their final year - making them eligible for internships (as placements are sometimes called) that run from January until April or May. But sometimes students have academic loose ends to tie up - and they become technically eligible for placement only at the start of the summer, or the start of the fall. Please be advised that we can't guarantee a placement at that time; you may have to wait until the following January and go out with the "crop" of other interns then. (This is for insurance reasons, among others.)

4. How do I register for placement?

Answer: Field placement is a tuitioned course similar to your previous semester courses and is part of your final Academic year. Fee statements are issued for this semester in fall. Please observe your fees deadline. When Web-registration opens for winter semester, be sure to visit myCentennial and build your timetable as you would for other semesters. If you do not register for placement, you will not be allowed to report to your agency.

5. Why do I pay for field placement?

Answer: Your field placement hours are part of your program and contribute to the mandatory hours required to complete your program, as approved by the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities. Payment for your entire program is distributed over the number of semesters you attend.

Mandatory non-tuition fees are also included in your fees for placement semester. These fees are reviewed and approved each new academic year by several committees and your Student Association.

During your field placement you are still considered a student of Centennial College with all associated privileges and responsibilities. You will have access to the campus computer labs, college libraries and your Workers' Compensation is covered by the college

6. Will I be paid while on placement?

Answer: Field Placement is your final semester term, during which you apply your skills, without pay, in a professional environment.

7. Will the program find me a field placement?

Answer: In fall semester, senior students are asked for their top three choices for a placement. Most of the resulting lists ask for "name-brand" Toronto news media, like the Star, CBC News, Maclean's, etc. In those cases, faculty assess the requesting student's academic performance (did the student who wants 680 News do well in the radio news course, for instance, thereby increasing the chances of a good "fit?") and, when appropriate, the teachers recommend one or more students to newsroom management.

Some news organizations are familiar enough with Centennial interns that they don't even require an interview before agreeing to take the student on; others require some competition. In those cases where one of our candidates strikes out (for whatever reason), we then proceed to his/her next choice.

In any event, faculty prefer to manage the assignment of interns to the more popular media, because those media expect us to "gate-keep" rather than just allow a horde of students to simultaneously approach them. With teacher permission, however, prospective interns may be allowed to make their own approaches to smaller, "off-beat" placement venues (say, the community newspaper in your hometown). And, in any event, it's the students' responsibility to make appropriate "ancillary" arrangements for placement; teachers do not, for instance, arrange lodging for an out-of-town placement, we don't handle the legal/immigration paperwork for an out-of-country placement, etc.