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Faculty of Arts & Letters

Communication, Media, and Culture Internship Guidelines

What qualifications do you need to pursue an internship toward the major requirement?

  1. Must have declared a major.
  2. Must have junior standing (having completed 60 credit hours at the time of application).
  3. Have completed all foundational core (COMM 110, 200, 251) and at least two advanced COMM major elective courses (300-400 level)
  4. Must have a GPA of at least 2.0.
  5. Must be in good academic standing.

How do you find a suitable internship?

  1. Visit Alumni & Career Services to use their resources and help.
  2. Go to Alumni & Career Services to search established internships on-line.
  3. Look through some possibilities and their websites that are specifically geared toward COMM students’ skills and aptitude.
  4. Explore family or personal connections for positions that suit individual students’ interest and career aspiration.
  5. Discuss potential internship opportunities that you have in mind first with COMM Department Internship Coordinator, Dr. Chiung Chen, before you begin the paperwork to get pre-approval.

How do you draft a proposal?

Proposals should be a 1.5-2 page essay.

  1. Explain why you want to take on the internship.
  2. Give the exact beginning and end dates of the internship and how many hours you will work a day, how many days a week, etc.
  3. Describe what exactly you will do at the job (detailed tasks, routines, skills needed, etc.)—clerical, office work, grounds keeper, sales, or jobs that do not really match your major do not count toward major internship credit hours (such as Disney’s college internship program, which does not need a COMM degree to complete). You may still do the internship, but will not receive COMM 399R credits.
  4. Justify how you will incorporate your Communication study into the internship.
  5. Relate how it will help you land a job or boost your marketability after you graduate.
  6. Attach an official letter of offer from the company or a confirmation email from the company or a supervisor of the unit in the company with job details (verification of #3 from the employer).
  7. Draft learning outcomes of your internship experience and turn it in with the offer letter for the department to approve.

How do you receive academic credits (only up to 3 credits can be used toward fulfilling the major's requirements)?

45 work hours= 1 credit hour; to count toward Communication major credits (3) you need to work min. 135 hours.

Before the internship

The following steps must be completed BEFORE you embark on the internship as no credits will be granted retroactively for internships that were not pre-approved.

  1. Meet all university and COMM program internship requirements.
  2. Obtain approval from the department's internship coordinator.
  3. Complete all necessary paperwork online for approval and to register for COMM 399R.

After the internship

  1. Submit an evaluation form by your employer about your performance. (see Alumni & Career Services for instruction)
  2. Submit a self-evaluation form on-line.
  3. Write a 5-6 page reflection paper explaining how this internship experience benefited from what you learned (what theories went into actual practice during the internship, what observations you had on the job illustrate the materials or theories, for example?). Also explain how the internship helped you decide what your career path might be, and any other benefits you gain from this experience. This is a critical reflection paper, not a description only of what the job tasks were. This paper is due within one month of your return from the internship to receive a passing grade.

What are the internship deadline dates for approval?

Summer/Spring Semester internships - March 31
Fall Semester internships - August 15
Winter Semester internships - November 30