Do you want to work, learn and grow in your profession? If so, then the American Correctional Association has a place for you. Whether you are a criminal justice, political science, business, journalism, marketing, finance, public relations, or information technology major, the Association wants you to have an opportunity to experience your profession!

This opportunity has many benefits such as working with your future colleagues in the field, working with real life issues you will experience as a professional, and gaining practical skills and knowledge.

Our diverse departments offer college students endless opportunities to experience their profession. You can work, learn and grow in the following departments.

Standards and Accreditation
Professional Development
Publications and Communications
Government and Public Affairs
Information Technology
Conventions and Corporate Relations
Membership and Finance

Begin your learning endeavor here.
 

Standards and Accreditation
The Standards and Accreditation Department is comprised of a Director, three Accreditation Specialists, three Administrative Specialists, an Office Manager, and a Health Care Administrator. Each year, the Standards and Accreditation Department schedules approximately 500 facility audits across the United States and some even abroad. The department is responsible for preparing accreditation contracts; submitting proposed changes to ACA standards; selecting audit teams and scheduling audits; conducting auditor training; reviewing audit reports; and conducting accreditation panel hearings. An intern assigned to this department would learn the process of developing national-level standards; participate in scheduling audits; review written reports looking for sensitive correctional issues; assist in preparing accreditation contracts; assist in selecting audit teams based on the needs of the audit type; assist in conducting auditor training; and assist in the scheduling of audits.  Excellent career opportunities exist in the Standards Department for interns that perform exceptionally well. This department is looking for criminal justice, business, healthcare, or related majors/minors.
 

Professional Development
The Professional Development Department offers educational and training programs to adult and juvenile justice professionals both nationally and internationally. The Corrections Certification Program is a voluntary certification program for correctional staff. Students in criminal justice or corrections may participate at the line level for adult or juvenile justice through the provisional certification program. The Online Corrections Academy provides interactive, online courses for adult and juvenile justice staff and agencies. The Department also provides custom-designed Training Workshops for adult and juvenile justice facilities and agencies, including the agency-based Correctional Leadership Program. The interns in our department work on all of these programs, as well as various research projects and grants. We are looking for interns with a grant writing background as well as marketing, education, business, and criminal justice majors/minors (preferably with a corrections emphasis).
   

Publications and Communications
The Publications and Communications Department is composed of six sections: Directories and Research, Graphics and Production, Marketing, Periodicals, Book Publishing, and the Web site. The department focuses on planning, producing, promoting and coordinating the publishing and web-based efforts of the Association. Our award-winning publications include Corrections Today magazine; Corrections Compendium, a peer-reviewed research journal; and numerous books, directories and standards manuals. The department also provides marketing and graphics services to other departments within the Association. We are looking for interns with experience in web site development/management, journalism, English, marketing, or graphic design.
 

Government and Public Affairs
This Department’s goals are to advance the association’s legislative agenda, to be pro-active in policy debates, and to raise the association’s profile within the criminal justice community and on Capitol Hill. Interns with the Government and Public Affairs Department would assist in these areas and are expected to have an understanding of the legislative process, the budget cycle and Congressional dynamics. This department is looking for criminal justice, public policy, public administration, and political science majors/minors.
 

Information Technology
Interns for the IT Department will assist with network infrastructure, helpdesk support, web development, equipment repair, software maintenance and updates, network analysis, and workstation setup. Candidates must have a basic knowledge of Microsoft operating systems (servers/workstations) and a good knowledge of network connections (such as wiring/performing workstation setup). This department is looking for IT and computer science majors only.

To start your learning experience, you must:

• Be enrolled in an accredited university and/or college within the United States.
• Be a U.S. citizen.
• Have a GPA of 2.0 or higher.
• Send a copy of your transcript, one-page cover letter explaining your interest, and resume to : American Correctional Association; Human Resources Department; 206 N. Washington Street, Suite 200 ; Alexandria , Virginia 22314 ; ATTN: Jennifer Bechtel.