CJ 395 Internship

Internships provide students to gain experience, conduct career exploration, and build a record of experience in the field.

Expectations

Interns are placed with an agency so that they can learn the practical application of the information they have received in our courses. They do as they are told; they do menial as well as meaningful tasks, they make a contribution to the agency that is at least as great as the agency's investment in training, and they do not create problems. Any student who creates a problem in an agency receives an F unless the person who is directly supervising him or her effectively intervenes on the student's behalf. On rare occasion, if it appears that the problem was not caused by or made worse by the student (when the problem arises you leave politely and quietly), the student will be allowed to withdraw passing. On the positive side, I have had to address a problem with an internship only three times in the 25 years I have been supervising interns. In one of those the student was not at fault and, in the second, the student redeemed herself with superior work during the remainder of the internship. Only one student has earned an F in internship hours.

Grading

You will prepare a term paper (five pages for each three hours of credit) and maintain a daily or weekly log. Remember that your daily or weekly log and term paper are due at the beginning of dead week. I will call each of your supervisors to determine a grade during dead week.

Remember that the grade the supervisor gives you is usually the grade that you get. I will only move your grade up or down one letter based on your written work. In most cases, the grade assigned by the supervisor is the grade that you are awarded.

Paper

The paper should tell me what you learned, how your course work helped prepare you for the job, how the job helped you understand the course work, and recommendations for the improvement of our courses so that future students will be better prepared for the job market. For long papers, describe the agency and the type of work completed in detail.