The Academic Side of the Internship

In order to receive academic credit for an internship, you must first contact the department’s internship supervisor, Dr. Steve Hoffman (JRC 403).  You will then register for POLS 497 or POLS 498; this will allow you to use the credit to satisfy the elective course requirement of the major.

A good internship requires that you know beforehand what will be expected of you and what you can expect of the organization.  It also requires you to reflect on what you are doing.  In order to make sure all of this happens, you will asked to complete the following:

• a contract between yourself and the organization.  The contact will specify the name of the supervisor at the internship site, a description of the project or work to be completed by the intern, the ‘deliverables’ you will be responsible for, and target dates for the deliverables;
• a journal describing the type of work you are performing; and
• a research paper that links your experience with a question of academic interest. 

You will meet every few weeks during the semester with other interns to talk about your experiences.  You will also meet with the staff of the Career Center to talk about the next steps in your path towards professional development.