Undergraduate Internship for Academic Credit Policy AS.036

LU Policy Number: AS.036

Effective Date: 01/01/2018

Approval Date: 01/02/2018

Revised Date: N/A

Purpose: To clarify and standardize the academic expectations for Undergraduate internships.

Additional Authority: N/A

Scope: Undergraduate Students

Approval Authority: President

Responsible Authority: Academic Affairs-Student

Definitions: N/A

Policy Title

Undergraduate Internship for Academic Credit Policy

Policy Statement

An Academic Internship – An academic internship is an approved and monitored co-curricular experience of a pre-professional nature that meets specific learning goals and is related to an academic field of study.  The activities at the internship site under the direction of a site supervisor is only part of the experience.  The student is to have a faculty advisor for the internship who will make the academic assignment for the student to complete.

Requirements for Academic Internship – To participate in an academic internship, a student must meet the following requirements:

• Be a full-time undergraduate student

• Having rising junior standing (minimum of 100 quarter credit hours) and

• Have a minimum GPA of 3.0

• Approval of the Community Outreach and Internship Coordinator and faculty advisor prior to acceptance of internship

Learning Agreement – Students must complete an internship application and provide a proposal that describes the learning goals of the internship and the intern’s responsibilities to achieve these goals.  All applications must be signed by 2 faculty members within the discipline and one must be designated as the faculty advisor for the internship.  The application should also indicate the name and contact information for the internship site supervisor.

Faculty Advisor – The student is responsible for locating a full-time faculty member to be his/her faculty advisor for the internship.  The academic component of the internship will be defined by the faculty advisor and will include analytical activities such as reflective journaling, compiling a portfolio, and writing integrative papers.  The student and faculty advisor should meet periodically to discuss the progress of the internship and the academic assignments.  The grade for the internship will be determined by the faculty advisor and will be based on the academic assignments completed by the student and the evaluation provided by the internship site supervisor.

Earning Credit for Academic Internship – The credits earned for an academic internship are not tied  solely to hours “at the internship site” but to the amount and type of academic related activities the student completes during the internship.  The academic assignments are due at the end of the quarter in which the internship is undertaken and will be evaluated by the faculty advisor.

In these assignments, the student is to reflect on his or her learning at the internship site and integrate this learning with topics or issues from an academic subject area.  The academic assignments should also indicate the student’s accomplishments while working in the internship as well as areas for his or her future inquiry and study that lead from the experience.

As its name implies, experiential learning is based on activity that is then to be reflect upon.  An internship assumes a certain amount of work and time spent at the internship site.  The academic assignment must also be commensurate with the number of credits to be earned.

The following examples indicate the relationship between the number of hours at an internship site, the academic assignments and credits to be earned:

Registration for Internship – Students must meet with their faculty advisor to determine the parameters of the internship.  Students must also identify an appropriate internship site and receive the approval of both the faculty internship advisor and the Community Outreach and Internship Coordinator prior to registration for the internship.  All internships must be approved by week 9 of the quarter prior to the start of the internship and students must schedule an appointment with the Community Outreach and Internship Coordinator prior to receiving final approval.  The Community Outreach and Internship Coordinator will register the student for their selected internship.  The Internship Application needs to be completed in its entirety and submitted to the Internship Coordinator prior to the internship commencing.

Integrating Learning from an Internship Experience with Academic Subjects –

Topical Paper:  A paper to be written at the conclusion of the internship demonstrating  integration of the internship experience with one or more topics related to specific courses or other academic interests.  Researched references should be cited to support conclusions drawn.  The paper is to indicate how the student has integrated the experience with his or her academic knowledge base as well as to identify areas or questions for further exploration.  The topics should be selected by the student and faculty internship advisor as part of the academic component and listed on the Learning Agreement.

Portfolio:  Students create a portfolio to keep samples of written work, photographs, videos, reports, interview transcripts, summaries, certificates of training, reference letters and other documentation of the internship experience and their contribution to the work of the organization in which they were interns.  The portfolio is to illustrate what the student has learned and how his/her skills or knowledge base has expanded through the internship.

Grading – Internships are graded on a pass/no pass basis.  Internship credits count toward graduation, but are not included in the calculation of a student’s overall GPA. 

Procedure(s)

N/A

Other Notes

Academic Affairs Approval on 10/24/2017