Students interns must fulfill the following requirements:
- Be accepted in the Communication Studies program as majors or minors
- Have completed three courses at the program’s lower level (Public Speaking; Communications
Theory; Communications Research) with a minimum grade of C+ as well as one upper-level
Communication Studies course with a minimum grade of C+
- Have a minimum overall GPA of 2.8
Organizations participating in the program must fulfill the following requirements:
- The organization or the department offering the internship must be communication-related.
Examples of communication-related organizations are radio stations, advertising agencies
and market research companies. Examples of communication-related departments are human
resources, public relations, marketing, or business development departments.
- The intern’s supervisor must have experience relevant to the internship responsibilities.
For example, if the intern will be responsible for an organization’s social media
presence, the supervisor must have experience in this area. The program is not designed
to assist an organization in the development of a new area of expertise with the help
of our students.
- The intern’s supervisor must agree to serve in a mentorship role throughout the internship.
This role requires ongoing supervision, meetings during the semester to discuss project
development and goals for the program, etc. Conversely, interns are not to be “left
to figure it out” or given unsupervised work arrangements.
- The organization must already be established. Start-up or out-of-home organizations
can not participate in the program.
- “Remote” internships where a student works off-site by computer or meets only sporadically
with the supervisor are not permitted.
- Students are not permitted to work off-site except under temporary circumstances approved
by the Internship Director. For example, it would be possible for a student interning
with a special events organization to work at the actual events.
To summarize, the program is open to organizations offering direct, person-to-person
supervision by an employee with experience in a field relevant to communication studies-related
professions.
Internships must be approved for credit prior to the beginning of the term, and run
on the semester calendar. (Fall semester: September to December; Spring semester:
January to May; Summer semester: Varies by specific semester)
The internship program is designed to match the student’s interest and experience
with the best possible opportunity. Furthermore, the program’s intern-to-opportunity
ratio is approximately 1:5. While the Communication Studies department appreciates
every organization’s interest in working with our students, we are unable to guarantee
that we will be able to obtain a match for a student and internship in any particular
semester.
Students who take internships for credit are participating in a for-credit undergraduate
course and receive a grade for their work. Supervisors will be responsible for submitting
midterm and final evaluations as well as participating in an end-of-term conversation
with the Internship Director to provide feedback on the student’s performance. Students
will also be responsible for submitting a portfolio of their work product and a report
at the end of the semester summarizing their experiences.
While students are prepared to perform the entry-level work that is part of any internship
program, the supervisor should attempt to provide the student with an opportunity
for growth during the semester, offering higher-level projects and more responsibility
as warranted.