Internship sites inform student research for dissertations and provide the foundation for future employment. Directors at these sites assist faculty mentors in determining the coursework and skills students acquire through the academic side of the program. IU Indianapolis serves as an academic laboratory for applied projects. The coursework and internships will often operate simultaneously, thus allowing students to work on problems and issues encountered during their internships in the courses they take. Moreover, faculty mentors and internship site directors collaborate before, during, and after student internships, much as researchers interact with their partners when working on externally funded projects.