All School of World Studies majors may complete 1-3 credits of internship. The course may be repeated for a maximum of 6 credits, however only 3 credits can count toward the major concentration. Anthropology majors and minors may complete 1-3 credits of internship and may repeat the course for a maximum of 6 credits, all of which may apply towards their major. Each internship credit requires 40 logged hours of work at the internship site. Foreign Language majors must complete all coursework in their target language.

The internship course is composed of the following:

1. Responsibilities placed on students as the intern by their field supervisor
2. General and academic course requirements stated further below

You should ensure that your supervisor fully understands the nature and responsibilities before beginning the internship.

After completing the internship application [Google Form] and agreement [Google Form], you should schedule an appointment to discuss the internship with the appropriate internship coordinator for your program.

All student interns should conduct themselves in a professional manner (dress, speech, etc.) at all times. Remember you are a student of Virginia Commonwealth University and your conduct will also reflect on the University. This is a good opportunity to showcase what VCU students have to offer the community.

At some point during the internship, you should submit a photo or two demonstrating your participation with the organization. Ideally these photos should feature you and/or your supervisor and identify the organization in some manner (for example: wearing a T-shirt, holding a logo, in front of a sign, at work, etc.) These photos may be used for promotional purposes by the School of World Studies.

Photos should be sent to the appropriate internship coordinator for your program by the final deadline.

Each fall semester, we hold our annual Student Research Conference. During this conference, an internship workshop session is held. This session provides information to prospective future interns and also gives current interns a chance to informally share their internship experiences. Supervisors will also be invited. An internship workshop is also held each Spring semester.

Beginning with your first day at the selected organization, you will keep a log of the hours you work. If your internship has been approved, you may accumulate up to 50% of your total hours prior to the beginning of the semester.

You must log a minimum of 40 hours per credit and only the hours you work for the agency may be recorded on your log. Hours spent off-site (outside the agency’s office) also count provided you are doing work they assigned to you.

Hours spent commuting to the organization or on journal/report writing do not count towards the log of hours.

The log must be signed by your supervisor weekly to verify your hours. A copy of your log will be included in your midterm portfolio and the complete, original log of hours documenting all hours completed for the internship will be submitted in your final portfolio.

View, download and print the log [Google Sheet]

You are required to keep a journal throughout the internship, making a minimum of one dated entry each week. For Foreign Language internships, the journal must be written in the target language.

The journal is primarily for your benefit as a tool to aid in writing the organization report and the reflective essay required by your mid-term and final portfolios, respectively. Read through the required topics for each to have an idea of the type of information to track in your journal throughout the internship.

Ideally, when you sit down to write these reports, you will have all the details included in your journal. You must date each journal entry but there are no requirements on the length or content. The journal may be typed or hand-written. Include whatever information is of benefit to you; feel free to be creative.

Note: Privacy laws prohibit you from including in your journal or reports any identifying information (names, addresses, personal/case details, etc.) about clients of the agency with which you are working. Please keep this in mind when writing your journal entries and reports.

About Portfolios

You will submit two portfolios during the semester. One to two weeks prior to each due date, you will receive an email reminder. It is your responsibility to submit your portfolios on time. Late submissions will result in 15 points being deducted, and will not be accepted more than three days late. Points will be deducted from each portfolio for failure to include required information or to follow the formatting and instructions.

View upcoming deadlines

Instructions

Log of Hours

For each portfolio, be sure the supervisor signs your log of hours [Google Sheet] to verify the hours you have worked to date. Include the total hours completed on the cover page.

Cover Page

Each portfolio must have a cover page that includes the following information:

• Your name
• The date
• Your majors/minors
• The organization where you interned
• Your internship course and the number of credits for which you registered
• Total hours completed to date
• Your target language, if applicable

The cover page does NOT count toward the total pages for each report.

Formatting

Each report should be in standard essay formatting (12 pt. font, 1” margins, double-spaced, with numbered pages). Include a bibliography of any sources used for research and to cite any quotes, direct or indirect. All items in each portfolio must be stapled together with the cover page on top (do not use three-ring binders, folders or clips of any kind).

For foreign language internships, the journals, reports and reflective essay must be written in the target language. Portfolios will be evaluated by the internship coordinator unless written in a target language, in which case they may be evaluated by a faculty member of that program.

Mid-Term Portfolio

Midway through the semester you will submit a portfolio consisting of:  

• Cover page  
• Copy of your log of hours (keep your original for your final portfolio)  
• Copy of your journal (keep your original for your final portfolio)
• Organization report (please number pages)

Organization Report

The organization report is a four-page report describing the organization you are working with and your role within it. It must be in your target language if you are in a foreign language concentration.

Two-thirds of this report will summarize a brief history of the agency (how the organization came to exist, the work it does, the area of the population it serves and what it hopes to accomplish) and one-third of the report will be a brief outline of the tasks, projects and responsibilities you have been assigned in your internship. This report should be in MLA formatting including in-text citations for any sources used and a bibliography. Even personal interviews must be cited. (At the 400-level of coursework in your major, you are expected to know how to format a brief research report.) At least one source for your research is expected, and failure to use proper citations will be interpreted as plagiarism.

Final Portfolio

At the end of your internship, you will turn in a portfolio consisting of:  

• Cover page  
• Complete and original log of hours  
• Complete and original journal  
• Reflective essay

Reflective Essay

This is the culmination of your internship and provides an opportunity for you to document your learning experience within a broader context.

If this is a foreign language internship, the essay must be in the target language.

The essay should be a minimum of five and maximum of seven pages. The cover page does not count in this total. The objective of the essay is to discuss what you have learned, not what you did.

Since you have already summarized your responsibilities in the organization report, this essay should focus on your insights and knowledge gained from your experience. It will be graded on the depth to which each of the following topics is addressed and the insights you provide. Failing to address all of the topics listed means you will not receive an A for the report, which will affect your final grade for the internship.

Reflective Essay Topics

• What were some of the positive and negative aspects of your internship?  
• Do you feel you were dependable, reliable and resourceful?
• Were you able to maintain a good work ethic during the internship? Give evidence.  
• What skills did you have that helped you with the responsibilities you were given?
• What skills do you feel you’ve gained as a result of the work you completed?  
• What represents your best work from the internship?  
• How have the experience and knowledge you gained relate to what you have learned in your major or minor courses?  
• What additional learning needs have you identified for yourself as a result of this internship?  Has this internship helped you in pursuing your career goals? Explain.

The intern evaluation form is a major portion of your final grade and will be completed by your field supervisor.

This form allows the internship coordinator to evaluate how well students fulfilled the responsibilities given to you at the agency. The evaluation will be emailed directly to your supervisor one to two weeks prior to the due date. Students are responsible for working with their supervisor to ensure the form is returned in a timely manner (by the due date.) Your supervisor may return the evaluation by fax, email, mail or by giving you a sealed copy to include with your portfolio. A copy of the form is included with this syllabus solely for your benefit, but is not to be used for the official evaluation.

Internships are a graded academic course. The key characteristics required for succeeding at an internship are dependability and professionalism.

This means:

• Being reliable at your internship location
• Completing the required number of hours for the credits received
• Submitting each portfolio correctly and by the deadline
• Addressing all of the report topics indicated in depth
• Receiving an above average evaluation from your field supervisor

Failure to comply with any of the course requirements will lower your final grade. You must turn in both mid-terms, their journal, signed log of hours and internship evaluation to receive credit for the internship course.

Your internship grade is based on:

• Midterm portfolio: 20%
• Total hours: 10%
• Final portfolio: 30%
• Intern evaluation: 40%

For the withdrawal deadline and other important dates, please see the deadlines page or the VCU academic calendar for the current semester.