Internship Requirements
Overall Requirements:
- Must be a Communication Major or Minor.
- Must have a minimum Departmental grade point average of 2.0.
- Must work at least 60 hours to receive 1.5 hours of credit and at least 120 hours to receive three hours of credit. Note that half semester internships are only eligible for 1.5 hours of credit.
- Up to two different internships in total may be taken for credit, whether taken as COM 280 or COM 281. Multiple internships with same company doing the same type of work may only be counted once.
- May not count any more than three hours of internship credit toward the major or minor and no more than six hours of internship credit toward graduation.
- In addition to hours worked, must complete agreed academic deliverables, arranged with a faculty supervisor, to receive credit.
- Internships cannot be processed as a late add and are not eligible for course credit retroactively.
Additional Requirement for Domestic Internships:
- Must receive approval of your application by the Department’s Director of Internships before beginning the internship. Credit cannot be given retroactively.
- We encourage you to plan well in advance of the semester for which you are wanting to get credit in order to have the approval process completed in a timely manner.
Application Procedures for Domestic Internships:
- Download a copy of the application form from the Departmental web site.
- Find an organization to intern with and identify the work you will be doing and the hours you will be working.
- Get a faculty internship supervisor and agree on the academic deliverables you will complete for credit.
- Fill out the application form and get (1) the signatures of your work supervisor at the organization and (2) your faculty supervisor for the internship on the application form.
- Note: An electronic signature in the form of an email to the Department Director of Internships from the work supervisor and/or faculty supervisor can also be allowed, especially in cases where the timing is tight.
- Turn in the completed application form to the Departmental Director of Internships, currently Professor Ron Von Burg.
- If everything is satisfactory on the form, an e-mail will be sent from the Director of Internships authorizing course registration.
- If anything is not satisfactory, an e-mail will be sent from the Director of Internships indicating the problem(s).
- Allow 2 to 3 business days for a response to the application.
- The letter of approval will inform you of the section of COM 280 the Academic Coordinator in the COM Department has created. This section is specific to your internship.
- After receiving the letter, you should log on to Workday, find the listing for that section of COM 280 and request a “Prerequisite Override” for the course. (You can get further information about the Override process from the tutorial at the following link.)
- Your faculty supervisor will then okay the Override request which will register you for the course.
- Note that this process must be completed before the end of the add period. Internships cannot be processed as a “late add”.
Procedures for International Internships
- Complete appropriate forms and coordinate with the Department’s partner in Global Studies or other departments.
- Final approval is with the Department Chair through WorkDay.
Summer Internships
- Internships undertaken during the summer months will normally only be eligible for credit if the student is enrolled for the internship in Summer Session 1 or Summer Session 2, depending on the timing of the internship. For such internships, complete the approval process outlined above prior to the end of the add period for the Summer Session in which you wish to receive credit.
For students doing summer internships in MarCom or a related field there is a special section of COM 280 which is a group section. Currently this course is being offered in SS1. Students are highly encouraged to enroll in this section even if the internship starts before or after the start of SS1.
- This course is for students wishing to have a richer and more productive summer internship experience. All students enrolled in this course will meet synchronously each week via Zoom (as they are able) with the supervising faculty member for this course and the other students enrolled in this course to check in with each other, discuss how their internships are progressing, get feedback, and share ideas and experiences with their fellow students and learn how to translate their internship experience into a job.
- COM 280 is for 3 credit hours and is P/F only. It requires 120 hours of internship work.
- The internship may start before or after the beginning of SS1 but should be active during SS1 and 120 hours of work at the internship should be completed by the end of SS1. Students who will not have completed their 120 hours by the end of SS1 may take an incomplete until their internship is completed. All internships should be completed before the end of SS2.
- Students are responsible for finding their own internships prior to enrolling.
- The application form is still required for enrollment in this summer version of COM 280. Forms must be turned in before the start of the course.
- Registration is through WorkDay. COM 280 requires permission of instructor, who would be the professor teaching this section of COM 280 in SS1. Enrollment will be approved once internship application form is turned in.
- If a student is doing a MarCom related internship for COM280, this can count for the MarCom minor and/or ICS concentration.
Click here for the Communication Dept Internship Application