internships

POLICY STATEMENT FOR INTERNSHIPS AND COOPERATIVE EDUCATION

Recognizing that learning can take place outside the classroom, Carroll College encourages its students to participate in a work program that relates to their area of studies. The student’s employment must relate directly to classroom work in order to qualify for internships or cooperative education. It must be taken for credit and may not be audited. The close cooperation between the college and participating employers ensures a work experience which contributes significantly to the student’s overall growth and professional development.

The objective of the Carroll College Internship/Cooperative Education Program is to assist students in gaining professional work experience and exploring career options before graduation. This aim will be accomplished by developing an interrelated partnership between the student, employer and the College supervisor to attain the partnership’s shared goal: the intern’s learning, growth and development. Attaining this goal will require sustained commitment, attention and efforts of all three members. Each internship should be an experiential learning experience designed to broaden the student’s knowledge of the agency/business/career field and provide and increased interest and more comprehensive understanding of career objectives. An Internship Learning Agreement Plan or Cooperative Education Plan should be completed, signed and dated by all parties involved within two weeks of the beginning of the internship. Completion of this learning agreement plan applies to a formal internship only. A formal internship or cooperative education experience is one that is taken for academic credit.

TYPES OF EXPERIENCES

Students have two options for participation in the experiential learning experience. The options are: Internships and Cooperative Education. Each learning experience requires active participation and commitment from the student, employer and faculty supervisor. Carefully review a description of the following programs. Then, choose the program that best fits your needs.

1. Internship
   An internship is a structured program that is unpaid. It is well defined in an Internship Learning Agreement Plan before the internship actually begins. The “contract” includes information such as: a complete description of the internship responsibilities (job description), goals and objectives, how objectives will be met, target dates for meeting objectives, description of how the program will be monitored, site visits, and/or progress reports. The hour to credit ratio is 1 credit per 3 hours of work per week for 14 weeks.

    

2. Cooperative Education
   The other type of experiential learning is similar to an internship with two major differences. The experience is paid as well as offered for credit, and the formula for receiving credit is 1 credit for 5 hours of work per week for 15 weeks. Therefore, a student may work up to 15 hours per week. (In some cases, Cooperative Education can be taken without academic credit.) During the summer term, a student must work at least 210 hours to receive 3 credits. As with the internship, a learning contract exists which defines the objectives to be met, target dates for meeting objectives, description of how the program will be monitored, site visits, and/or progress reports. A maximum of 6 semester credits may be earned in cooperative education. No more than 3 credits may be earned per semester.

For more information, please call (406) 447-5532 or e-mail careers -is-at- carroll -dot- edu.