DRAFT Internship Policy-6/18/18
Internship Policy – DRAFT
Policy: Internship Policy Effective date:
Review date:
Revised:
Responsible Party: Office of the Provost
1. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE
For purposes of this policy, an internship is a supervised work-integrated learning experience related to the student’s academic program of study with a clearly articulated academic component. The policy is intended to include courses identified as Internship (x98), Practicum (x95), and Co-Op Education (x98). Other courses such as Fieldwork (x95), Clinical Experience (x95), and Service Learning (x96), could also be included under this policy if the proposed student learning experience meets the definition as a supervised work-integrated learning experience.
This policy establishes the university requirements for student internships for which academic credit is granted by any unit of the university. Under this policy, units that wish to offer internships will develop the Unit Internship Guidelines and Procedures (UIGP) under Section 3 to govern unit requirements for internships and the Internship Scope and Plan (ISP) for each student’s internship under Section 4.
2. UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENTS FOR INTERNSHIPS
A. Expected learning outcomes will be established for each student internship prior to the beginning of the internship period.
B. Each student internship will have an assigned faculty internship instructor responsible to:
-oversee the creation of the ISP for the student’s internship.
-participate in establishing learning outcomes for the internship.
-provide oversight during the internship period to ensure that the student is learning subject matter appropriate to the discipline and/or applying disciplinary knowledge.
-assess the student’s performance during the internship and assign a grade for the internship experience.
C. Each student intern will have an assigned internship site supervisor responsible to:
-monitor the internship consistent with the requirements identified in this policy
-assure the expected learning outcomes identified in the ISP document are met through the intern’s assignments.
-supervise the student throughout the internship period.
-report any problems or issues to the faculty internship instructor in a timely manner.
-provide timely reviews of the student intern’s performance
D. Internships are academic experiences and should receive appropriate credit. In no case will the number of assigned credits exceed one credit for every 45 hours of student effort pertaining to established learning outcomes for the internship (based on MSU’s definition of the credit hour).
Students receiving academic credit for an internship must register for credits during the academic term that the internship takes place.
3. UIGP REQUIREMENTS
Each academic unit that offers internship courses must have an approved UIGP document that describes the unit specific expectations and procedures for internships consistent with the university requirements in Section 2.
A. Required Content. The UIGP will include, at a minimum, the following:
-Procedure for assigning faculty as internship instructors.
-Expected learning outcomes for all internships within the unit.
-Expectations for pre- or post-internship training (if required),
-Expectations for minimum reporting requirements during the internship period.
-Expectations for faculty instructor oversight of the internship.
-Any additional requirements of all internships in the unit.
-Procedure for handling disputes that arise during the internship.
-Procedure for determining the appropriate number of credits for internships.
-Description of how the internship will.be credited in the unit’s program requirements (e.g., program elective, general elective, repeatability, maximum internship credits allowable, etc.).
B. The UIGP must be approved by the unit head and the head’s supervisor. For departments, the required approvals include the department head and the college dean.
4. ISP REQUIREMENTS
Each internship will have an ISP signed by the student intern, faculty internship instructor and site supervisor and unit head establishing the agreed upon internship requirements.
Internships of 4 credits or more require approval by the college dean. Signed copies should be provided to all parties and retained in the unit according to MUS Record Retention guidelines for course syllabi .
A. Required Content. Units may include additional required content in their ISP.
-Expected learning outcomes specific to the student’s internship (i.e., learning outcomes in addition to those specified in the UIGP.
-Anticipated student effort and credits to be awarded.
-Contact information for:
o Faculty internship instructor
o Internship site supervisor
o Unit administrative support
o Student intern
-Evaluation Expectations
o Frequency of communication between the student and the faculty internship instructor
o Student reporting requirements and expectations
o Student’s required evaluation of the internship
o Grading policy for the internship
o Site supervisor’s evaluation of student’s performance related to learning outcomes.