Internships

The BAIS program encourages experiential learning opportunities. Internships are a great way to combine work and learning: you apply what you've learned to a work environment and you learn by being actively engaged in the work. The work could be for pay or volunteer.

An internship is an opportunity that combines learning with work and offers a unique experience to apply acquired knowledge and skills, as well as to explore potential careers. The essential component is that as you are working (either paid or as a volunteer, full-time or part-time) you have intentional objectives to apply what you've learned or learn more about a field. Internships are slightly different from co-ops which are paid work experiences, related to the student’s major (or minor), with academic credit earned. The student enters into an agreement among the employer, a specific faculty member in the academic department, and Career Services staff. Co-op credit is initiated through Career Services.

You can receive academic credit toward your Integrative Studies major through IST 496 Internship for Integrative Studies. The student must have the permission and support of the program director to enroll. This course is available for variable credit hours. For three credit hours we would expect 180 hours of work on the job during the semester, in addition to a weekly hours spent on written assignments (journal, paper, portfolio artifacts, communication with the instructor).

Any BAIS student who has at least 30 hours of earned credit (sophomore status). We would want to see also credit toward the BAIS degree. When applying you will need to describe how what you are learning will be enhanced by the internship experience.

If you are interested in an internship you should contact your advisor or the program director. Normally students identify opportunities and bring them to the program for discussion, but we can discuss options with you. You will need approval from the program director and we must create a section of IST 496. Fill out the BAIS Internship Request form attached below. We need your contact and background information, as well as information about the supervisor and the job opportunity. You might be working with a faculty coordinator from a specific department, but the IST program director can also serve as the faculty coordinator. Describe in detail your goals for the internship. Include three goals, how they will be accomplished, and how they will be evaluated. What will you be doing? What skills or knowledge will be applied? How will you benefit as an Integrative Studies student? Use an additional sheet of paper if necessary. These goals should be approved by the IST Program Director before you have this signed by the job supervisor. Submit the completed and signed form to the IST program director for approval.

In signing the form the student agrees to

• maintain communication with the internship coordinator, maintain a journal of work activities and hours, and to submit this and a final written report to the coordinator at the end of the semester;

• abide by the organization or agency’s rules, regulations, and policies;

• inform the internship coordinator of any changes to the contact information or changes related to the internship;

• maintain a professional attitude toward work and the work environment;

• assume responsibility for punctual and accurate preparation of materials required for the internship.

In signing the form the employer/supervisor agrees to

• support the student in his or her efforts to complete assigned tasks and meet agreed upon goals;

• provide meaningful work assignments and a safe work environment.

• provide a brief evaluation of the student to the faculty coordinator at the end of the semester.

You maintain a weekly log or journal in which you note the hours you worked and the activities you were engaged in. We will want to see that you are working enough hours (roughly 60 hours overall for each credit hour; roughly 200 work hours overall for a three credit hour class) and that the work you are doing is what was expected and is relevant to the program.

Around midterm the program director will ask for a brief report from the supervisor about the progress.

At the end of the semester we will ask for another brief report from the supervisor. Also, due the first day of final exams week, you must turn in a final written report to the faculty coordinator and the program director. This three to five page (double spaced) report will be a thoughtful and critical reflection on how (and the degree to which) the goals for the internship have been met and on what the work experience has contributed to your work in the BAIS program. You will be evaluated on the thoughtfulness of your discussion, the quality of your writing (both mechanics and style), and your ability to integrate this experience with other work in the BAIS program. This final report will be included as an artifact in your BAIS portfolio.

We have been using a Co-op/Internship module within HireNKU to track the credit-bearing opportunities within some other colleges for the past several years and we are now moving all CEP 300/600 enrollments into HireNKU.

Overview of the online process:

• The student logs in to HireNKU and enters the information for their CEP 300/600 co-op (employment details and learning objectives).

• Career Services processes it from the administrative side and initiates the workflow, which automatically sends an email to the employer for their approval using a link in the email (no need to log in).

• Once the approval is submitted by the employer, the system automatically sends an email to the Faculty Coordinator for their approval (no need to log in).

• Once approved, Career Services receives an email and enrolls the student.

• At the end of the semester, the student and employer automatically receive an evaluation (via email).

• At any time, the Faculty Coordinator can log in to HireNKU to review their students’ co-op records, learning objectives, and evaluation results.

• Career Services can easily export a report of all employment details (employers, pay, hours/week, etc.) as well as evaluation data.

• All communication can be done online!

• Students may become more engaged in HireNKU and may be exposed to additional co-op/internship and full-time opportunities.

• Co-op employers’ information will be housed within HireNKU so we can ensure they receive career fair invitations, etc.

• Once an employer approves the co-op, the program director will immediately be contacted for your approval.

• The evaluations are sent automatically to the student and employer, providing follow-up emails (if needed) and a greater sense of anonymity in providing feedback since the student and employer do not see each other’s evaluations.