Internship Information

Opportunity

Undergraduate management internships provide an opportunity for outstanding students to gain on-the-job experience by working on a project with an organization for which they have no previous employment experience. Internship projects should be related to the student's academic preparation, must be approved by the faculty internship coordinator, and should improve employment opportunities for students who participate. Organizations sponsoring internships benefit from an opportunity to evaluate potential employees on the job prior to making a long-term commitment while establishing a relationship with the Management Department and the W. P. Carey School of Business.

Additional information about internships in general can be found at the W. P. Carey School of Business internship website.

Requirements

Management internships are available only to Management Bachelor of Science juniors and seniors who have completed at least two courses offered by the Management Department before the internship experience and have a 3.00 GPA overall.

Internships require approval from the internship coordinator and involve a contract between the student and the sponsoring organization which identifies the goals and deliverables of the internship. Students must meet with Professor Richard Nosky, the faculty internship coordinator to review and approve the internship. A student's application will include a concise written recommendation by a Management Department faculty member. The application process must be completed prior to the beginning of the internship semester. During the semester, interns must also schedule a midterm conference with the coordinator to review progress of the internship. Interns will submit a MGT 484 Internship Report to the internship coordinator at the completion of the internship.

Internships will not be approved for students who are currently employed by or have been previously employed by the organization prior to submission of the internship request. Three hours of credit accrue through enrollment in MGT 484. Generally, MGT 484 can be used as a management major elective. See your academic advisor if you have questions.

Procedures

A wide range of opportunities may qualify for internship positions, but they must be approved in advance if the intern wishes to receive academic credit for the experience. In general, the following criteria are used to determine eligibility:

• Most prospective internships will be paid positions. Unpaid prospective opportunities must have the approval of the internship coordinator.
• The internship opportunity must entail a near-professional job position in an area defined by the coursework of the Management Department. For example, a clerical position would not qualify since the job description is normally inconsistent with the courses offered by the Management Department. Similarly, a beginning sales position is likely more marketing-oriented than managerial. A comprehensive job description, including duties and time allocations, prepared by the company internship supervisor at the job location will be necessary to qualify the position.
• The intern's immediate supervisor will develop a training plan for the position and agree to the timely evaluation of the intern.

The Internship Experience

The internship experience normally consists of a minimum of 120 hours, preferably spread over 10 to 12 weeks during a regular semester. Shorter summer semester internships will be reviewed by the internship coordinator. All interns will be evaluated by their job-site supervisor at the end of the internship experience, and this evaluation will be submitted to the Management Department's internship coordinator.

Benefits of Internships

One of the principal advantages of majoring in Management at the W. P. Carey School of Business is that the school and the Management Department strongly support the concept of student internships, believing all students can benefit from the experience. While the primary benefits of internships are gaining professional work experience and learning about potential employers, they can also provide students with academic credit. Gaining college credit for your internship experience may require additional effort, but will enrich your experience and give formal recognition of the accomplishment.