Career Development and Internships

Internship Guidelines

Internships offer the opportunity to supplement classroom theory with practical knowledge gained from a carefully monitored, field-based learning experience in a professional setting. Internships provide either a general career exploratory experience (experimental internship) or a pre-professional level experience related to the student’s academic objectives (departmental internship). Credit is not given for working, per se, but for attaining clearly specified educational objectives in an alternative learning environment. Students are expected to work 160 hours in the internship site.

Qualified students may do internships during the regular term as well as during the January Term and in the summer. Internships are not open to first-year students. Requirements for departmental internships are determined by each department and are listed in the course descriptions in the Academic Catalog. Students interested in pursuing an experimental internship must be in good academic standing (cumulative grade point average of 2.0). Faculty sponsors should check to make sure that students have the necessary courses and cumulative average before approving an internship.

Most internships are unpaid; transportation costs and expenses of a personal nature are borne by the student. The maximum number of internship course credits allowed for graduation is four.

Setting up the Internship

1. It is the student’s responsibility to explore internship possibilities.  Students should take advantage of college resources related to internship opportunities:
• Visit the office of Career Development and Internships to discuss internship sites, resumes, interviewing and contacting organizations.
• Internships are posted on the center’s website http://www.salem.edu/student/careers.php on the Career Development Jobs Board.
• There are also links to other online resources that might be helpful on the center’s website: http://www.salem.edu/student/careers.php
• Talk to faculty and upperclassmen in specific fields of interest – they are great connections to internship sites. 
2. A student should meet with her faculty sponsor early in the semester to discuss potential internship opportunities. A student should not contact any off-campus agency or supervisor until she has met with a faculty sponsor and has received tentative approval of the proposed internship.  
3. After receiving tentative faculty approval, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the agency/business regarding the internship.  Once the student has begun to clarify her project, she must meet with her faculty sponsor to discuss her learning objectives and the activities in which she will engage during her internship.  During this meeting, the faculty sponsor will determine how the student’s work will be evaluated.
4. If it is a student’s first Salem College internship, she must attend a mandatory internship training session and obtain the signature of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies or the Director of Career Services indicating that she has completed her training.
5. Responsibility for the completion of the internship contract lies with the student.  The student must secure the signature of the off-campus supervisor before requesting final approval from the faculty sponsor. The faculty sponsor reviews the completed contract with the student and then may give final approval of the internship experience.  *A copy of the contract must be given to the faculty sponsor once signed by all parties.*  The student must hand in the completed form to the Office of the Registrar by the appointed deadline.  Students who do not complete and submit the contract form prior to the deadlines stated in the catalog or the commencement of the January Term may not receive academic credit for the internship. 
6. It is recommended that students who enroll in a departmental internship present their work in some public forum within the department.

Evaluation of the Internship

The faculty sponsor is responsible for the evaluation of the internship experience. The faculty sponsor evaluates the student’s written work (written work might include a paper, journals, posters, exhibits, etc.) and the on-site supervisor’s evaluation of the intern’s work. The faculty sponsor assigns the student’s grade (letter grade for departmental internships, Pass/No Credit for experimental internships).