MSW@Denver Field Internship Placement Process & Resources

MSW@Denver Contact Information:

The MSW@Denver placement process is overseen by our 2U partners. Please reach out to your Placement Specialist for support.
If you have questions prior to being assigned a placement specialist or concerns about your placement process, please email fieldplacement@onlinemsw.du.edu AND Field Placement Manager, Erin Clark (erin.e.clark@du.edu)

Please see the information below for more details about the MSW@Denver placement process.

Field Placement Process

In response to student feedback, we are excited to share that starting for the Fall 2026 field cohort, all MSW@Denver students have access to search through the affiliated (current partners) site lists in our database, Experiential Learning Cloud (ELC)!
This means you will have more involvement and choice in the placement process. You will search through the affiliated sites listed in ELC, reach out to sites that interest you for interviews, and have more voice and choice in securing an internship that aligns with your learning goals. You also always have the option of introducing us to a new site in your area that is interested in hosting you, and we would take care of the vetting process to affiliate or officially partner with them as a placement site.
You will still have an assigned Placement Specialist that will support you during the process. We’re also implementing some new check points that will help in making thoughtful decisions on field readiness and academic planning.
See the infographic below OR click here for an overview of the steps in the placement process:

Field Placement Search Resources

MSW@Denver students must watch the Field Orientation Recording (linked here) prior to their Field Advising Appointment. This, along with your other required steps, will be emailed to you 21 weeks prior to your scheduled field start date.
Outreach to schedule Field Advising Appointments will begin 20 weeks prior to your scheduled field start date. You will be outreached via email by a placement specialist to sign up for an appointment only after you have completed a Knowledge Check Survey from the orientation. It is important to complete this survey and then sign up for an appointment promptly.
See the placement resource packet for helpful field placement guidance, including:
-Placement Timeline
-Placement FAQs
-Place of Employment and Duplicate Guides
-Referral Toolkit
Click here to access and download the Field Placement Search Tracker, which you’ll use to track your outreach and progress in your field search.

Field Placement Process Deadlines

See a visual of the Field Placement Process Deadlines below. Note that any dates as a deadline, which means if this deadline is not met, your field start date will be moved to the next cohort. Any date listed as a guideline is a best practice date for completing this task for an on-time start; if you engage in the action item listed past the best practice date, an on-time start could be impacted.

Review the information below for more details on the specific due dates throughout the placement process:

Field Start Date

You must engage with the placement team 10 weeks prior to the new field start date (deadline)

To have your field start date be earlier (i.e. move start date from Fall 26 to Summer 26), you must inform the placement team (fieldplacement@onlinemsw.du.edu) no later than 10 weeks prior to the new field start date you’re requesting (deadline)

You may push back your placement start date to a later quarter at any point (i.e. from Summer 26 to Fall 26)

Referrals

Agency referral form for POE site should be submitted no later than 16 weeks prior to field start date (guideline). Your placement specialist will provide you with a link to this form.

Non-POE agency referrals forms should be submitted no later than 8 weeks prior to field start date (guideline. Your placement specialist will provide you with a link to this form.

Special Field Arrangements: Place of Employment (POE) + Duplicates

POE agencies should complete initial review of Agency Agreement (AA) 8 weeks prior to field start date (guideline)

POE and duplicate forms are due in ELC 6 weeks prior to field start date (deadline)

Final Field Start Decision

If a student has no viable placement leads at least 2 weeks prior to the planned field start date, their field start will be deferred to the following quarter (deadline). The purpose of this deadline is to ensure that students have the time and support they need to make informed academic decisions and secure a placement that is a strong fit for their learning goals.

For the purposes of determining field start eligibility, a placement lead is considered viable only when the student has at least one active opportunity that is still progressing toward potential placement. A lead is not considered viable if any of the following apply:

The student has completed one or more interviews and was not selected, resulting in no remaining opportunities with that site or others.

There are currently no interviews scheduled and no active prospects.

The student’s only potential site is delayed due to contracts or agreements being held in legal review, with no confirmed timeline for completion.

LOA (leave of absence) return

You must inform the placement team no later than 10 weeks prior to field start date of the quarter in which you wish to return (deadline)

See specific deadline dates by quarter below:

Fall 2026	Winter 2027	Spring 2027	Summer 2027
20 weeks: Week of 4/27/26 16 weeks: 5/25/26 10 weeks: 7/6/26 8 weeks: 7/20/26 6 weeks: 8/3/26 2 weeks: 8/31/26 Start Date: 9/14/26	20 weeks: Week of 8/17/26 16 weeks: 9/14/26 10 weeks: 10/26/26 8 weeks: 11/9/26 6 weeks: 11/23/26 2 weeks: 12/21/26 Start Date: 1/4/27	20 weeks: Week of 11/9/26 16 weeks: 12/7/27 10 weeks: 1/18/27 8 weeks: 2/1/27 6 weeks: 2/15/27 2 weeks: 3/15/27 Start Date: 3/29/27	20 weeks: Week of 1/25/27 16 weeks: 1/22/27 10 weeks: 4/5/27 8 weeks: 4/19/2027 6 weeks: 5/3/27 2 weeks: 5/31/27 Start Date: 6/14/27