Guidelines for Academic Credit Internships in CDS
“Graduates who had an internship during college were more than twice as likely to have a good job waiting for them upon graduation (42%) compared to graduates who didn’t have an internship (20%).”
· Brandon Busteed in Forbes, January 4, 2021
Internships are a great opportunity to find out more about your chosen field while building your work experience and a portfolio. CDS majors can earn academic credit through COMM 499, which can serve as elective credits toward their Major. Journalism Minors must complete either a JOUR 499: Internship or an individual study to complete their program. Both COMM 499 and JOUR 499 can also fulfill the “Beyond the Classroom” requirement for General Education.
To complete an internship for credit students are required to registered for the internship credits before the start of the internship and complete the internship hours within the timeframe specified on an internship contract. Students cannot enroll directly in these courses; instead, they are registered for the credits once a completed academic internship contract has been approved and processed by the department chair.
If you are interested in pursuing an internship, please do the following:
- Find an internship.
Make sure that it is appropriate for the major, and that the work you will do meets the university requirements for internships. You can find the university guidelines and policies on the Career Center’s internship webpage. Once you have a worksite for your internship, talk to a faculty member in the major about serving as the faculty advisor. - Initiate the Academic Internship Contract in Handshake.
Internships for credit must meet certain criteria in order to be eligible. The Handshake system will review these requirements by asking you to answer a series of questions, and then it will route the contract to the appropriate for approvals. These will include internship’s site supervisor, faculty advisor, and department chair, so make sure you know who will serve in these roles. The Career Center’s webpage includes a series of tutorials explaining the responsibilities and approval process for each of these roles.
All approvals are now handled with electronic signatures via Handshake, and you should initiate the contract with enough time that all approvals can be secured by the deadline of Wednesday, January 15, 2025 for internships scheduled in the Spring 2025 semester.
Finding an Internship
Many internship opportunities are listed on Handshake; check with the Career Center for information about accessing Handshake and other tools that will help you prepare for and find appropriate internships.
Internships opportunities of special interest to CDS majors will also be posted to a discussion board CDS Community Canvas page. Contact the department chair, Zach Whalen (zwhalen@umw.edu), if you are a CDS Major, Digital Studies Minor, or Journalism Minor and you do not already have access.