Internship Information
Purpose
Internships combine the academic core of the program with practical opportunities to use that core. It is not the object of the Department or the University to provide vocational training; therefore internships do not represent work experience alone.
Policy
Internships may be obtained in various ways. Students may discover internship opportunities through friends, former employers, etc., or they may arrange one with the Internship and Career Center (2nd floor, South Hall).
The educational return to students on efforts spent on internships should be commensurate with the return on other learning opportunities in this department. Therefore, relevant upper division coursework must be taken prior to beginning the internship. In all internships, student achievement must be documented. Units assigned are based on the potential for academic accomplishment equivalent to the standards applied to regular individual study courses.
The distinguishing features of an academic experience are the development of certain skills:
- deductive reasoning
- reasoning from general principles to specific applications.
- inductive reasoning
- reasoning from appropriately gathered empirical evidence to create useful generalizations.
- scholarly synthesis
- collecting and analyzing the thoughts of others and applying subsequent generalizations to specific situations.
- creativity
- transcending logic to arrive at solutions that are not obvious from existing formulations but which can be logically defended ex post facto.
Like regular class work, internships have the potential to improve students’ skills in one or more of these areas. For example, an internship applying the principles of marketing to a specific industry might offer experience in deductive reasoning while an internship surveying consumer preferences would provide opportunities for inductive logic.
The Internship and Career Center aids students in their decision making process through career planning and experimental learning in the world of work. The services of the Center include internships, workshops, classes and seminars, along with on-campus recruiting, job listing and referrals. The Center arranges and organizes internships throughout the Sacramento and Bay Area. Information about the variety of internships available can be found in the Career Resources Library, second floor, South Hall, or by talking to one of the Center’s coordinators or staff interns.
Internship credit
- The Master Advisor gives final approval after reviewing the internship proposal for its appropriateness to the curriculum and the number of units assigned.
- All ARE 192 credits count as unrestricted electives.
- The units earned should represent as much intellectual achievement as do course work units. The link is between internship units and intellectual achievement, not between internship units and hours of work per week.
- In a 3 or 4 unit course in this department, achievement is typically demonstrated through multiple papers and examinations. Internships require evidence of equivalent levels of accomplishment. Therefore, they seldom involve more than 2 to 4 units of credit in any quarter. The instructor decides the number of units. A 12-unit internship for 1 quarter is ordinarily not possible in this department.
External Requirements
A Request for Approval of Internship for Academic Credit must be filed with the Advising Office prior to the add deadline as stated in the Schedule and Directory. When the internship is approved, you will be issued a CRN.
- University policy states students will not be given credit retroactively for work accomplished during periods when they were not enrolled.
- A maximum of 12 units of 92 and 192 combined may be applied to the 180-unit requirement for graduation. 192s require that students have completed 90 units of credit.
- The student must take a copy of the completed RAIAC to the Internship and Career Center.
Procedure
- The student may discover an internship opportunity through the Department, friends, former employers, etc., or arrange one with the Internship and Career Center.
- The student obtains a RAIAC from the Department Advising Center.
- Each internship must have a faculty sponsor. The faculty sponsor may be obtained by talking with the advising staff, with your faculty advisor or by talking with faculty in the department whose research interest typifies the direction of the internship.
- The student completes his portion of the RAIAC, which includes:
- title and description of the project.
- the relationship of the internship to the student’s educational program and objectives.
- student’s background pertinent to the proposed internship. (Students must identify relevant, upper division ARE coursework, which has been taken prior to the internship.)
- The faculty sponsor will review the proposed internship, and upon approval the faculty member and student will agree on a method of reporting progress during the quarter and summarizing the internship at its conclusion. The sponsor completes his portion of the RAIAC, which includes:
- sponsor’s description of the written work required.
- additional requirements for a successful internship, if applicable.
- The student turns the completed RAIAC into the advising office for approval by the Master Adviser. If the Master Adviser does not approve the internship, the RAIAC will be returned to the faculty sponsor with the proper notation. It can then be re-submitted after changes are made or if further supporting material is presented.
- Upon approval, the Master Adviser signs the RAIAC and returns it to the advising office.
- The student is then responsible for obtaining a CRN from the Advising office and enrolling through RSVP within the proper deadlines for adding and dropping.
- The student should take a copy of the RAIAC to the Internship and Career Center.