Internships provide students with the opportunity to earn academic credit for relevant workplace experience. Internships also provide students with an excellent opportunity to put classroom theory into practice and explore how to apply the skills and concepts you acquire in your degree program to community and workplace settings.
All of our degree programs have internship options for majors. The courses associated with each program of study are:
- Gender, Women's & Sexuality Studies: GWS 4900 (1-6 credits)
- Global Studies: GLS 4900 (1-12 credits)
- Interdisciplinary Studies (BA & BS): IDS 3900 (3-12 credits)
- Non-Profit Organizations minors see this page to use your internship to complete your experiential learning component.
Remember: You MUST get your internship approved prior to starting your internship if you want to receive academic credit!
Step-by-Step Approval Guide
- DO YOUR HOMEWORK. You should start looking for internship opportunities at the start of the semester prior to when you want to intern. That will give you plenty of time to assess your options, apply to the organization, and get the appropriate departmental and university approvals in place before your internship term begins. It is important that you find an organization that works for you, and an internship that will actually allow you to gain relevant and useful applied experience. There are lots of resources out there to help you identify internship opportunities.
- TALK TO YOUR ADVISOR. Your major advisor can help you figure out how to count your internship credit toward your degree program. You will also need to get your advisor's approval, so the sooner you have that conversation the better. Your advisor will also most likely serve as your internship advisor, so the two of you will need to discuss what you will do for the academic side of your internship.
- MAKE SURE YOU KNOW YOUR MAJOR-SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS. Depending on which degree program you are in, you will have limits on the amount of credit that can count toward your degree, and the sorts of organizations that are appropriate for your major.
- For GWS Majors: You will need to make an additional appointment with the Director of Gender, Women's & Sexuality Studies for additional approval.
- For GLS Majors: If your internship is part of an international experience, you will need to submit an additional application through the Office of International Education and Development. No more than 6 s.h. can count in your focus area, and no more than 6 s.h. can count as credit toward required electives in major.
- For IDS Majors: Your internship will automatically count toward your electives in major. If you are substituting internship credit for a course or courses that were already scribed into your individually-designed program of study, you will need to get the approval of both your advisor and the department chair for that substitution.
- CONFIRM YOUR DETAILS. Your internship site supervisor should email your advisor and Dr. Maria Pramaggiore (pramaggioremt@appstate.edu) a list of your specific internship duties and your total hours of internship activity. Note: for a 3 s.h. internship, you will need to complete 120-150 hours over the course of the semester (in other words: 50 hours of internship= 1 s.h. of academic credit.
- COMPLETE THIS DATA SHEET (16KB, DOCX) We cannot begin processing your internship until we receive all of the information on this sheet. If you have any questions about required information, email the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. We recommend you complete this step before the end of the semester prior to when your internship starts.
- GET YOUR SIGNATURES. Once we receive the completed data sheet and the statement of internship duties from your site supervisor, we will generate a contract. You will need to sign that contract and your site supervisor will have to sign it as well. Return your signed contract to the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies.
Once we receive your signed contract, and the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and the College of Arts and Sciences approve your internship, you will be automatically registered for the appropriate internship course. We must have all signatures and all approvals, at all levels prior to the end of the add/drop period.
Remember as well that you cannot begin your internship until you have all approvals in place and you are registered for your internship course. Your internship also cannot "straddle" semesters, so it is important you have accurate start and end dates on your internship. That is a university policy, related to how our insurance policies work.