Internship/Externships (495-496 courses)

Students are placed in a variety of field and workplace settings for credit, in order to gain experience related to classroom learning.

The following policies and procedures apply:

  1. Internships and externships are offered through academic departments. Some internships and externships may be limited to students who have declared a major in that department. Others are available to non-majors.
  2. Students must pre-register for an off-campus internship or externship and complete all planning for it by the end of the semester immediately preceding the semester in which the internship or externship will be performed. (Application for an internship or externship that will occur outside of the Fall and Spring Semesters must be made prior to the experience. Credit may be awarded in the following regular semester of enrollment.) The application will include:
    1. approval by sponsoring on-campus professor
    2. approval by advisor
    3. approval by department chair
    4. approval by Vice President for Academic Affairs
  3. Departments determine specific eligibility requirements, the amount and type of credit awarded, and the academic requirements. Since internships and externships are part of the academic program, they have academic requirements comparable to other course work.

A list of the objectives of the work experience must be provided to the supervisor in the workplace, and that individual and/or the academic supervisor must document that the objectives have been met.

The advisor or instructor of record will contact the workplace supervisor before, during and after the experience.

In general, for every one credit hour earned, students will spend a minimum of 45 hours of work.

The amount of credit that can be earned in an internship or externship varies by department and by the nature of the activity. One-, two-, three-, six- and twelve-hour internships/externships are available. Internships and externships carry either a letter grade or S/U grade. Students should consult the Catalog to determine the type of credit they will receive for a specific course. Information will be with the course listing by department.

The experience may be a paid or voluntary position. Ideally the experience should not occur in a setting which is one of general and on-going employment for a student. However, there may be exceptions and those exceptions are determined by the advisor, department/division chair, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Students should consult department listings for specific information and work with their advisor in planning an internship or externship experience.