C&D Guidance for Departmental Internships

Guidelines for Departmental Summer Internship Courses

1. It takes time for students to get acclimated to the work environment, learn required skills, and achieve something meaningful. Current departmental summer internships range from about 46 to 100 work hours per credit. Depending on additional course requirements, departmental expectations, and whether or not there is a classroom component, summer internship courses should require a minimum of 45 on-site work hours per credit.
   
   
2. Some type of evaluation from the internship supervisor, including verification of the number of hours and weeks worked, must be required. The evaluation from the internship supervisor should also include an assessment of Student Learning Objective 1 below.
   
   
3. Course requirements vary by department but generally include some combination of the following:
   1. Written assignments – Journal, research report, final report, reflection essay
   2. Oral presentation or poster session
   3. Portfolio
   4. Blog
      
      All departmental courses should include at least two types of graded assessment in addition to the internship supervisor evaluation and any organized classroom activities.
4. It is recommended that all internship courses include the following Student Learning Objectives, although these learning objectives can be modified to reflect individual departmental  practices. Additional field or department-specific learning objectives may be added.
   
   Upon completion of an internship course, students will:
   1. have demonstrated professional workplace behavior and interpersonal skills, such as dependability; ability to work well with others; productivity and time management; creativity; resourcefulness; initiative; ability to work independently; and appropriate attire;
   2. reflect upon how their internship activities expand, redirect, alter, or confirm their intellectual, personal, and/or professional goals; and
   3. articulate how and why their activities make them more competitive in the workforce, including how it was additive or refining to their experience and/or professional portfolio.
      
      
5. The syllabus should state, “International students (on F or J visas) must meet with the International Students and Scholars Adviser in advance to determine eligibility and obtain appropriate authorizations."

Note 1: For internships undertaken as part of a regular fall/winter/spring course, credit hours can be calculated as they are for any other course in those terms.

Note 2: A maximum of nine credits of internship may be used to meet degree requirements.

Approved by the Washington and Lee Undergraduate Faculty, February 5, 2018