Internships
Employer Information
Guidelines for Employers – SOLS Internship Program
Thank you for your interest in providing our students with a rich rewarding internship experience. Internships can be paid or unpaid. Academic credit is awarded to students based on the number of hours they work and the completion of a career related class they register for during the semester they complete the internship. A specific number of hours are required to earn academic credit: 135 hrs = 3 credits; 90 hrs = 2 credits 45 hrs = 1 credit. During the Fall & Spring semester this averages out to be 9 hrs. per week.
As an Internship provider you are expected to:
- Have an Affiliation Agreement on file. Print and complete the Affiliation Agreement. This is the formal agreement that specifies the responsibilities of the university and the responsibilities of your organization with respect to student interns. Fill in the first page, sign page three, and then mail the entire form to the specified address. Please keep a photocopy for your records.
- Create a Meaningful Experience. The internship experience should not consist of routine office and clerical work. A project based experience must be developed with the student and approved by the Internship Coordinator and/or a Faculty Mentor. The project plan is part of the application. It must include a description, goals, task/responsibilities, outcomes, and evaluation criteria. Furthermore, this must be included as part of the student’s contract as well. The real world experience combined with the student’s career related coursework requirements, make for a meaningful experience. The Internship Information packet is helpful to understand student expectations and requirements.
- Assign a Supervisor. An individual within the organization must be assigned as the official supervisor and contact for the student intern. This person is responsible for monitoring the intern’s progress against the goals described within the contract, verifying the number of hours the intern works, and evaluating the intern’s performance two times during the semester. The evaluations help determine the student intern’s grade. We hope you will find these recommended guidelines helpful: Supervisor Guidelines
- List the Internship. Whether the internship position available is a one-time experience for a specific student, a one-time opportunity open to any students who apply, or an ongoing opportunity, the sponsoring organization must complete the Request For Student Intern Application for each internship you wish to offer. Upon approval, the employer is listed as a provider on our internship list and webpage.
- Complete a Mid-term Evaluation. The Supervisor will participate in an evaluation of the intern’s performance midway through the semester. The evaluation form will be provided. After completing the evaluation, both the intern and Supervisor sign the form and return it to the Internship Coordinator.
- Complete a Final Evaluation. Prior to the last week of the internship experience, the Supervisor will evaluate the intern’s overall performance during the internship and provide suggestions for the intern’s professional success. The evaluation form will be provided. After completing the evaluation, both the intern and Supervisor sign the form and return it to the Internship Coordinator.
Internship Approval Process
- Step 1: Complete the Affiliation Agreement and mail to specified address, if you do not have one on file.
- Step 2: Complete Request for Student Intern Application. E-mail or fax the form to the Internship Coordinator.
- Step 3: Please allow us time to review your application and confirm the acceptance of your Affiliation Agreement. This can take between 1 and 3 weeks, depending on when the application is submitted (i.e., applications submitted during a semester break may take longer to process). We will contact you via e-mail after we have reviewed the application. If the proposed internship duties are acceptable and the internship is approved, we will include you on our Internship Provider list and post it on our webpage for students. If it is not approved, we will notify you with an explanation as to why.
- Step 4: Respond to students that contact you. Interns seek internships before each semester – i.e., during the month before the Fall(August), Spring (January), and summer semesters (June).
- Step 5: Interview internship applicants and retain the most qualified candidate.