2006 Curriculum: Internship FAQ
The College of Arts and Sciences offers students the opportunity to earn credit for internships. As of Fall Semester 2006, students may be eligible to earn one of two types of credit for their internships. The first type of credit fulfills the University’s experiential education requirement. The second type earns credit that does not count toward any of the General Education requirements and does not count toward graduation, but may satisfy an employer’s conditions for student interns.
Which type of internship credit is right for me?
Many students may wish to have an internship (especially over the summer) in order to learn about career opportunities or to make themselves more attractive to potential employers. They may want to fulfill their experiential education requirement in a different way, but they would still like to have the internship noted on their transcript. In many cases, employers who offer only unpaid internships require interns to be eligible for college credit. If any of these reasons apply to you, then you will probably want to choose the option that awards credit that does not fulfill the General Education requirements.
But some students may wish to fulfill their experiential education requirement by performing an internship. Many academic departments and curricula sponsor such internships, usually for their majors; some departments may sponsor them also for their minors, and a few may sponsor them for all qualified students. Students who are interested in performing an internship for experiential education credit should check with that faculty member who is the Director of Undergraduate Studies in their major or minor departments about available opportunities and the academic requirements for having an internship. It is important to plan ahead and contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies well ahead of when you plan to start an internship.
Where do I apply for internship credit? What are the application deadlines?
- For experiential education credit, students should apply to their major or minor department and sign up for that department’s internship course. Deadlines for applying for experiential education credit may vary by academic unit, but usually are a few weeks before the end of the semester preceding the internship. For example, students who wish to be eligible for experiential education credit for a summer internship must apply sometime in the Spring semester.
- If students are unable to earn experiential education credit for an internship through an academic department, they may be eligible for such credit through Special Studies (SPCL390, sec. 4), which is offered through the Office of Experiential Education. The application deadlines are as follows. For summer and fall internships, the deadline is one month before the end of classes in the Spring semester. For spring internships, the deadline is one month before the end of classes in the Fall semester. These deadlines are firm.
- For internships that do not earn credit for experiential education or graduation, students should contact the internship coordinator at University Career Services. For this type of internship, University Career Services has a rolling deadline, the only constraint being whether there is enough time left in the semester (or over the summer) to complete the minimum of one hundred hours of internship service. After completing the internship, students write a paper reflecting on their experience; after review of this paper, the Director of Experiential Education approves credit for SPCL392, sec. 4.
What are the eligibility requirements for earning Experiential Education credit for an internship?
- You must be at least a second semester first-year student with a minimum of one semester as a full-time student remaining before graduation. Transfer students, not yet matriculated, must provide a UNC–Chapel Hill acceptance letter and course schedule. Pre-freshmen cannot be approved for credit. All internship proposals will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and no internship automatically qualifies for academic credit.
- You must have an overall GPA of at least 2.0.
- Interns must complete a minimum of 100 hours in the internship. The internship must have a verifiable “hands-on” work component as well as a strong academic component. Responsibilities must not be 100% clerical. Students cannot be “contract employees.” Direct sales internships cannot qualify for credit.
- An academic unit, or, in cases where the unit declines to sponsor experiential education internships, the Office of Experiential Education must approve a Learning Contract before the internship begins and must approve satisfactory completion of all aspects of the contract at the conclusion of the internship. You can find a sample learning contract for internships that earn experiential education credit under “Forms/Instructions” on the left.
- Deadlines for applying for experiential education credit may vary by academic unit, but usually are a few weeks before the end of the semester preceding the internship. For example, students who wish to be eligible for experiential education credit for a summer internship must apply sometime in the Spring semester.
- If students are unable to earn experiential education credit for an internship through an academic department, they may be eligible for such credit through Special Studies, which is offered through the Office of Experiential Education. The application deadlines are as follows. For summer and fall internships, the deadline is one month before the end of classes in the Spring semester. For spring internships, the deadline is one month before the end of classes in the Fall semester. You can find a complete list of guidelines for internships that earn experiential education credit through SPCL390 under “Forms/Instructions” on the left.
- Students must submit a preliminary agreement (available under “Forms/Instructions” on the left) with their application for internship credit.
What are the academic requirements for experiential education credit for internships?
Academic departments may have their own requirements. Here are the requirements for credit offered through the Office of Experiential Education.
- Topic Approval/ Prospectus: A one-page prospectus for a research paper and an annotated list of at least eight sources must be submitted by the student to the faculty advisor for approval with the Learning Contract. A reading load of 500 pages is suggested, but the actual length is to be agreed upon by the student and faculty advisor. The research paper is not meant to be a narrative or essay of your experience.
- Midterm progress reports as required by faculty advisor.
- Research paper: A paper of approximately 3,000 words in length on the topic outlined in the prospectus. It must include notations and a bibliography in the manner prescribed by the faculty advisor.
- Reflection Paper: Write a 2-3 page reflection summing up your internship experience based on your learning objectives.
- Internship Site Review: Complete a 1 page follow up of your internship site.
- End of term evaluation: Student arranges for site supervisor to send to faculty advisor.
What are the requirements for internships that do not earn credit toward graduation?
- You must be at least a second semester first-year student with a minimum of one semester as a full-time student remaining before graduation. Transfer students, not yet matriculated, must provide a UNC–Chapel Hill acceptance letter and course schedule. Pre-freshmen cannot be approved for credit. All internship proposals will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
- You must have an overall GPA of at least 2.0.
- Interns must complete a minimum of 100 hours in the internship. The internship must have a verifiable “hands-on” work component. Responsibilities must not be 100% clerical. Students cannot be “contract employees.” Direct sales internships cannot qualify for credit.
- University Career Services must approve a Learning Contract before the internship begins and must approve satisfactory completion of all aspects of the contract at the conclusion of the internship. A sample learning contract for SPCL392 is under “Forms/Instructions” on the left.
- Reflection Paper: Write a 2-3 page reflection summing up your internship experience based on your learning objectives.
- Internship Site Review: Complete a 1 page follow up of your internship site.
- End of term evaluation: Student arranges for site supervisor to send to University Career Services.
- Upon completion of the internship requirements, the Director of Experiential Education will review submitted materials and determine whether one pass/fail credit of SPCL 392, sec. 4 will be awarded.