Internship Policy

Journalism and Media Communication requires one credit of internship for graduation, but encourages every student to consider taking more than the minimum.

Internships benefit both students and internship sponsors. Students benefit from the opportunity to apply what they have learned in college courses to a work situation, under a trained supervisor in a professional setting. Internship sponsors benefit by establishing a relationship with the school and faculty, by being introduced to potential employees, and by the actual work the interns accomplish. Students will be placed only in offices where their work will be supervised by a professional in their particular area of communication.

Interns can expect to:

• receive help from the internship coordinator in locating internships that match their career goals and provide meaningful, responsible work experiences.
• be supervised, given feedback, and suggestions for improvement.
• be supported by the internship coordinator in dealing with work-related issues.
• receive a letter grade that reflects their work. Grades are the combination of the supervisor’s evaluation; an evaluation of the student’s work samples; the intern’s journals; two required reports; and the department’s assessment of the rigor of the particular internship.

Interns are expected to:

• treat the internship as a professional job and to act accordingly.
• maintain a professional level of communication with the sponsor and with the JTC internship coordinator.

Supervisors can expect to:

• receive applications from qualified students who have been pre-screened by the internship coordinator.
• obtain support from the department through phone and email contacts when necessary.

Supervisors are expected to:

• provide the department with a written job description and conditions of the internship. Supervisors may be requested to provide a resume of their professional work.
• sign a contract indicating willingness to supervise and evaluate the intern.
• provide supervision, feedback, and two written evaluations.

We encourage pay for interns to help defray their education costs.