FAQ for Department Internship Coordinators/Faculty Supervisors
- Q: Can I establish a minimum or maximum number of credits (towards the major or in general) for which a student in my department can register?
A: Yes. Many departments limit the # of internship credits that can count towards the major to three, for example, allowing any internship credits over three to count as elective credits. You can also set a minimum or maximum # of total credits for which a student can register.
- Q: Do the department internship coordinator and the faculty supervisor/grader have to be the same person?
A: No. You are free to designate someone as your coordinator—who will be in charge of site publicity, informing students of openings, talking to students about their internship options, etc.—and someone else as the faculty supervisor/instructor, who will grade the academic portion of the internship (journal, writing assignments, etc.). You may still choose to have one faculty member serve as both coordinator and faculty supervisor/grader, however; this option may work best if your department is small and the faculty member has time to devote to both roles.
- Q: In our current non-LA internship course, our students approach various faculty members and ask them to serve as their faculty supervisors, depending on what the internship entails. If we switch our internship program over to LA 495, will we have to pick just one faculty supervisor/grader?
A: No. You could designate the coordinator or someone else in the department to enter the grades, and all of your faculty supervisors would simply submit first submit their grades to that person. Keep in mind, however, that having one person overseeing the academic portion of the internship has helped many departments to better organize and streamline their programs.
- Q: I’m the x Department’s internship coordinator, and I have received requests for interns from sites that I don’t think are appropriate for our majors. What should I do?
A: After telling the site that the internships they propose are not right for your students, have that site contact Ashley Tarbet, College Internship Adviser, who will consider advertising the internship opportunity to students in other departments.
- Q: Does our department have to incorporate any of the LA 495.1 syllabus into our own syllabus?
A: No. You are free to create your own syllabus; the LA 495.1 syllabus is meant only as an example.