accomodations at an internship - seeking advice

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

I have been lurking on the list for some time. I have been an active reader on

the list who feels connection and support through others postings, but who has

not written because of the time and physical demands of my graduate program and

it's associated internship

requirement.

I am facing an issue that I hope the group can advise me on. I am an A student

who is struggling with fatigue and much pain due to the time demands of my

internship. Additionally, my immune system has been drained. I have been

struggling with an ongoing series of colds since the school year began.

A supportive doctor wrote an official note documenting my condition CMT 1A and

the accomodations required - 2 full days of internship per week vs. 3 full days.

I followed the school protocol which involves requesting accomodations via the

student disability office at U.C. Cal State East Bay - Hayward. I have wasted a

good amount of time and energy talking with various people at the school and at

my internship. The disability office is not quite sure about the laws that

protect people in internships & what my options

are.

The current accomodations are as follows -every even Tuesday I come to the

internship at 10:00 (instead of 8:00 am) and finish at 5:00.

- On every other Tuesday I come in at Noon (instead of 8:00 am) and work till 5.

This has come at a cost. I have been warned that the internship agency (Child

Protective Services of SF) may terminate my internship

at any point and for any reason. The school liason (The instructer of my field

class) and three supervisors at CPS told me this at an accomodation meeting last

Friday.

If this happens I will have to pay my title IVE grant back (approximtely 40K

before interest). Without a field placement I can not complete my master's

program. So, if I push for my accomodations I could end up not getting my MSW

degree & owing 40K.

It was decided at the meeting that I must draft a contract of hours - including

how I plan to make up 2 sick days. This contract must be included in my

learning agreement. No other title IVE students are

being asked for the contract of hours, and a passing grade in field class

depends on me turning the document in.

According to the school's handbook I am required to complete 200 hrs of

internship this semester - according to my instructor & the people at CPS I will

have to complete approximately 400 hours this

semester. Signing this " required " contract on my learning agreement will make

the new hourly requirement official.

I want to fight this because it seems unjust.

However, I am afraid of the consequences and am trying to maintain an A average.

If I devote the amount of time I have been devoting to it for the past 6 weeks I

will not recover from fatigue. It is counter productive to expend more energy

than I am trying to

save and I don't have a knowledgable advocate.

I have found numerous documents online that outline my rights to accomodation in

an internship - but I don't know how to make these a reality for me.

The school has been pushing me to drop the IVE program and pay back the stipend

or to take classes only this year, and do an entire year of internship only next

year. This would mean graduating a year later & living off of Half of the

stipend this year and half

next year - I have told them that this is not an option.

Thank you for your time

McGuire