Internship Requirements

Credit for internships in economics is handled through ECON 394, Economics Internship. The internship coordinator is Dr. Bruce Brunton. Internships are subject to College and Economics Department requirements as follows:

COB Minimum Requirements for Internship Credit

• Internships will be three credit hours per experience.
• Internships in more than one program are permitted. However, double counting (i.e., receiving credit for one experience in more than one program) is not permitted.
• Interns must complete at least 200 hours work experience to receive three hours of credit.
• Interns must have at least junior standing.
• Internships must be approved in advance, and the intern must register for class credit during the work experience. The intern must also adhere to all application requirements of the program that grants the credit hours.
• Each program shall require at least one program evaluation by the intern's immediate supervisor.
• Internships require a final written paper and exit interview with the department's internship coordinator.

Additional Economics Department Requirements:

(1) The internship experience must involve analytical thinking. Because this course will allow a student to earn academic credit for elective hours in economics, the nature of the internship experience must be approved, in advance, in much the same way as an independent study (ECON 490), before the student registers for the course. An internship should involve some clearly identifiable analytical thinking that is similar to what would be experienced in an economics course. A written statement from, or phone conversation with, the organization employing the intern is necessary to verify the nature of the responsibilities expected of the intern. If these are deemed sufficiently analytical, a course approval form (similar to the one used for independent studies) can be signed and the student can register.

(2) There should be a minimum of 200 supervised hours.

(3) A journal must kept and turned in to help document what happened.

(4) A supervisor's report - either in writing or through a phone call - is a requirement for an internship and an important part of the evaluation process that leads to a grade for the course.

(5) A student paper plays a role in eliciting the analytical thinking that the internship experience should create to warrant academic credit; therefore, a paper is a requirement for internship credit. The specifics of the paper should depend on the nature of the internship responsibilities of the student but should be explicitly included in the approval form that is signed before registration.