CAPS Fellows Program

The CAPS Fellows Program helps students develop their sense of Calling And Purpose in Society by reimagining the traditional internship as a communal and reflective experience, deepening its impact on discernment. 

CAPS Fellowships are:

• Professionally Relevant – Internship placements are designed to provide enriching experience in organizations relevant to but not strictly determined by a student’s major.  In other words, this is NOT a clinical internship or field placement. The program should expand the Fellow’s horizon of possibilities. Fellows work closely with colleagues and supervisors, and are given significant, project-based assignments. They will experience a purposeful work environment and gain skills that will carry forward into the professional world.
• Socially Engaged – No matter where students serve, this experience will introduce them to meaningful ways of working in the world. All placement organizations are engaged in leadership and service, and as a CAPS Fellow the student will have multiple opportunities to learn from colleagues and from an alumni mentor about their own pathways to purpose.
• Rooted in Reflection –  Reflection is key to finding and deepening the student’s sense of calling and purpose. Through individual and group reflective exercises, CAPS Fellows gain insight into themselves, how they might best serve others, and what a purposeful life could look like after Valpo.

Fellows complete intensive summer internships that offer relevant real-world experience, accompanied by significant reflection in community with other Fellows. CAPS Fellows are placed with a broad range of regional and national organizations engaged in important forms of service and leadership, and intern with these organization for 9-11 weeks in the summer, for a total of 300 hours.

The Institute provides Fellows with orientation and debriefing, a stipend for living expenses, an alumni mentor, and cohort learning.  In addition to their internships, Fellows participate in reflective discussions with other Fellows via Zoom, post on the CAPS Fellows Blog, meet with an alumni mentor, and write a final reflective essay on their internship, deepening their learning and better preparing them for meaningful work in whatever field they choose.