SoMAS Undergraduate Internships Printable Instructions
Internships can be a valuable way for students to gain experience in the outside world with a company, governmental organization, non-governmental organization (NGO), educational facility, etc, while still at school. Although the Director of Undergraduate Programs maintains a list of possibilities, the Career Center through Handshake provides an alternative avenue, and often students discover opportunities on their own and bring them to the Director for consideration. It is important that students make the necessary arrangements and get academic approval before the internship occurs. Retroactive requests are usually not approved, except in unusual circumstances. Internships can be paid or on volunteer basis. The main requirement is that an internship has to be relevant to your major and in addition to hard work in the field and/or office it must include an intellectual component. For example, if you work at an animal rescue center, you may pick one breed and learn how it got to the US, what was it used for originally, what are its major health issues, etc. The final piece of an internship is the reflection part, where you need to write a 5 -10 page report (single-space) describing what you did what you learned from it, and how you would improve it.
You are also reminded to check the undergraduate bulletin to ensure you meet the general academic requirements of the university before you undertake an internship.
Student Application Procedure
In order to get credit for your internship you will need a faculty member affiliated with SoMAS to be your “instructor of record”. This is the person under whose section you will register and who will give you a grade at the end of the semester/summer. Second, you need to identify a person who will be your supervisor at the organization you intend to intern at. Third fill in the EXP+ contract form (see page 2)
All internships must have intellectual content in additional to the practical experience you will receive.
Some students are fortunate to receive pay from the organization while undertaking an internship. Others do not.
Once the Undergraduate Director approves your prospectus, you should contact the SoMAS undergraduate advisor and she/he will give you permission to register for the internship under the section number of your instructor of record (or faculty advisor). THIS MUST BE DONE BEFORE THE END OF ADD/DROP. When you have permission YOU MUST GO INTO SOLAR AND REGISTER FOR THE COURSE. Typical number of credits for internship is 2 (allowed up to 6 but only 2 or 3 credits count towards the major). Typically 60 hours is equal to one credit.
You should provide a progress report to your instructor of record midway during the semester/summer.
You should submit your final report to your instructor of record no later than the last day of finals for a given semester, or by 25 August for a summer internship.
Content of the report
- Name and address of the organization you interned with
- Description of the organization (purpose & history)
- Detailed description of activities you performed preferably broken down week by week (easy if you keep a journal and write progress reports)
- Procedures that you think were done well and those you think could be improved
- Description of events that were remarkable (good and/or bad)
- Results in form of tables, charts, or graphs from an interview, meeting, workshop
- General reflection on what you learned on your internship