Internships

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An internship will help you get a job. According to a 2018 study, 94% of employers said they're more likely to hire a recent grad who had had an internship. In other words, it pays to get experience in your chosen field before you graduate.

It's never too early to start planning your internship. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you begin the process.

First of all, take the time to think about why, when and where you would like to do your internship. Ask yourself:

1. What field of study and subject area interests you most?
2. Do you want your internship to relate to your major field of study or career interests?
3. What are your professional goals, and what skills and competencies do you hope to develop?

Be sure to check with your academic advisor about the university and departmental requirements for internships in your major. Work closely with faculty members so you will be sure to design an academically sound internship plan.

Secondly, visit Career Services to obtain internship information and help in identifying potential sites. The staff at Career Services can help you develop a professional resume. If you have any questions, you can contact Career Educator Warren Shaw at 814-362-5059, or by email at wms14@pitt.edu.

Keep in mind that the time and effort you spend planning your internship is equally as important as the time you will spend actually completing the internship.

Procedure for Student Identified Internship Opportunities:

• Identify a potential opportunity for an internship
• Meet with a faculty member in your major to discuss the opportunity and to determine if it is appropriate and worthy of internship credit (and the number of credit hours being sought)
• Agree with your faculty supervisor and site supervisor what your responsibilities, learning objectives, outcome expectations, method of assessment, and credit hours (if applicable) will be.
• Based on that agreement, complete an internship form and submit it to the dean of Academic Affairs with all required signatures
• Once the dean approves it, the form is forwarded to Enrollment Services for processing
• Complete your internship, including all objectives identified in the internship agreement

To be approved for an internship, you must:

Complete at least 60 credits; Be in good academic standing (2.0 or higher GPA); Completion of the Academic Internship Proposal; Receive approval from the faculty intern supervisor, your advisor, the division chair and the vice president and dean of academic affairs. Add the internship to your course schedule no later than the add/drop deadline for the term.

Please be advised that some programs or courses of study require that you complete rotations, fieldwork, internships/externships and/or teaching assignments at facilities external to the university, while other programs or courses of study may offer voluntary internships or externships at facilities external to the university. Depending on the program or course, such facilities will or may require a criminal background check, an act 33/34 clearance (if applicable), and perhaps a drug screen to determine participant qualification or eligibility. Additionally, in order to become licensed, many states will inquire as to whether the applicant has been convicted of a misdemeanor, a felony, or a felonious or illegal act associated with alcohol and/or substance abuse.

An internship will allow you to get hands-on, practical experience and develop key competencies and critical skills in your field of study. Our students are getting great experience on internships at a variety of places:

• Allegany State Park 
• Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in Pittsburgh
• American Cruise Lines
• Bayer Pharmaceutical
• Bradford Ranger District/U.S. Forest Service
• Bradford Regional Medical Center
• Camp Woodward, an extreme sports residential camp
• Carnegie Science Center
• Chicago Botanical Garden
• Democratic National Convention
• District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department
• Erie SeaWolves minor league baseball team
• FBI
• GE Transportation
• Goldman Sachs
• Google
• Harrisburg Senators baseball team
• Heinz Field in Pittsburgh
• Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh
• Holiday Valley Ski Resort
• Major League Soccer team D.C. United
• Olean (NY) Oilers baseball team
• Television network BET
• The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia
• Walt Disney World
• Washington Wild Things minor league baseball team
• Walter Reed National Military Medical Center's Naval Medical Research Center
• West Ham United Football Club in London (Yes, THAT London)
• Western New York Nuclear Service Center
• WSYR-TV News in Syracuse, NY
• Zippo Manufacturing Co.

 

 

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If your business or organization has internship opportunities for our students, please complete the Employer Internship Information Form and contact: The Office of Academic Affairs at 362-7510 or ljs80@pitt.edu.

Carolyn Boser Newhouse, president of SuperUser Technologies Inc., has had great success in welcoming Pitt-Bradford students as interns. Most recently, she worked with Nathan Morris, a senior majoring in computer information systems and technology. 

"He was extraordinary.  He demonstrated a very strong work ethic, and it was a pleasure working with him.  I was particularly impressed with his efforts to ensure he was always readily available while working remotely.  It just could not have worked out any better.
 
I will say in the nearly 30 years of working with staff, he represented the ideal of who any company would want to hire.  He not only set the bar high(er) but at the highest level.   I am sure we will all be hearing about Nathan’s successes in the future.
 
I think the caliber of students coming out of your program also reflects the hard work and dedication of the professors involved in your program.  Kudos to you both and your staff."

Procedure for External Based Opportunities :

A representative from a potential internship site, external to campus, contacts a member of the campus community to express interest in obtaining an intern.

If the initial campus contact is not the associate dean of Student Affairs and director of Career Services, this opportunity is forwarded to the Director of Career Services who will then redirect it to the appropriate person on campus (usually a faculty member in the appropriate discipline with a CC to the dean of academic affairs).

The faculty member will share information about the opportunity with eligible students within the specific major.

Student, faculty supervisor, and site supervisor agree to the outline of student responsibilities, learning objectives, outcome expectations, method of assessment, and credit hours (if applicable).

Based on the above agreement, an internship form is completed and submitted to the dean of academic affairs with all required signatures.

Once the dean approves it, the form is forwarded to Enrollment Services for processing.

Student completes internship, including all objectives identified in the internship agreement.

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You may be approached by undergraduate students to act as a faculty sponsor for their internships.

An academic internship is an approved and monitored work experience, related to an academic field of study. The difference between an internship and a short-term job or volunteer experience is the internship is structured to attain intentional learning goals. In addition to the on-site work experience, interns work under the sponsorship of a faculty member, who establishes and evaluates academic requirements for earning credit for the experience.

What are the components of an academic internship?

• Meaningful pre-professional learning experiences.
• Academic assignments, such as an integrative paper, oral presentation, job-related project and a reflective journal that helps the student to integrate learning at the worksite with topics from an academic discipline.
• Supervision by a professional at the worksite.
• Sponsorship by a Pitt-Bradford faculty member.
• Students can earn from one to a maximum of six elective credits (determined by the academic requirements) per internship. The academic requirements should be specific to the internship and commensurate with the total number of credits desired.
• The student can work at the site part-time or full-time, a minimum of 45 on-site hours must be completed per credit hour earned. 
• Grades on an S/NC (Satisfactory/No Credit) basis.

Who is eligible to do an internship?

• A student in good academic standing with at least a 2.0 GPA who has completed a minimum of 60 credits.

What are the responsibilities of the faculty sponsor?

• Establish the student's academic requirements for earning credit. The required assignments should help the student reflect upon what was learned (in addition to what work was performed/produced) and how the internship helped him or her to develop academically, professionally or personally. Further, they should help the student to integrate the internship experience with previous and current academic studies, and with the academic discipline/field as a whole.
• Meet personally with the intern, a minimum of three times in the term, for example:
  • Beginning of the internship for approval of the learning agreement
  • Mid-term for feedback on the assigned projects
  • End of the internship for a final discussion and evaluation
• Be available for consultation via email or phone at other times throughout the internship.
• Contact the intern's supervisor at least once during the term, either in person or by phone, to discuss the intern's responsibilities and progress.
• Complete the grade roster and submit the completed roster to the registrar.

Commonly required academic assignments include:

• Reflective journaling
• Portfolios featuring work created by the student (written documents, videos, publications, graphics) at the site.
• Oral presentations
• Integrative research papers
• Case studies

If you have questions or need additional information, contact Academic Affairs or your division chairperson. The Office of Career Services can assist you in identifying and contacting potential internship sites for your academic discipline.

Procedure for Faculty Based Internship Opportunities:

• If the internship activity is a requirement in the major, the student meets with you to discuss potential opportunities.
• If you have not identified a specific site, the student will research, identify and contact potential internship sites. The Office of Career Services can help the student obtain internship information and assist in identifying potential sites. While faculty members and Career Services staff members can help the student explore internship opportunities, the responsibility for finding an internship ultimately rests with the student.
• If you are making this opportunity known to the student as an option in the field of study, you will identify potential students and discuss the opportunity with them.
• You, the student, and site supervisor agree to the outline of student responsibilities, learning objectives, outcome expectations, method of assessment, and credit hours (if applicable).
• Based on the above agreement, an internship form is completed and submitted to the dean of Academic Affairs with all required signatures
• Once the dean approves it, the form is forwarded to Enrollment Services for processing • Student completes internship, including all objectives identified in the internship agreement.

Procedure for External Based Opportunities:

• A representative from a potential internship site, external to campus, contacts a member of the campus community to express interest in obtaining an intern.
• If the initial campus contact is not the associate dean of Student Affairs and director of Career Services, this opportunity is forwarded to the director of Career Services who will then redirect it to the appropriate person on campus (usually a faculty member in the appropriate discipline with a CC to the vice president and dean of academic affairs).
• You will share information about the opportunity with eligible students within the specific major.
• You, the student, and site supervisor agree to the outline of student responsibilities, learning objectives, outcome expectations, method of assessment, and credit hours (if applicable).
• Based on the above agreement, an internship form is completed and submitted to the dean of Academic Affairs with all required signatures.
• Once the dean approves it, the form is forwarded to Enrollment Services for processing Student completes internship, including all objectives identified in the internship agreement.

Procedure for Student Identified Internship Opportunities:

• Student identifies potential opportunity for an internship experience.
• Student meets with you to discuss the opportunity and to determine if it is appropriate and worthy of internship credit (and the number of credit hours being sought).
• You, the student, and site supervisor agree to the outline of student responsibilities, learning objectives, outcome expectations, method of assessment, and credit hours (if applicable).
• Based on the above agreement, an internship form is completed and submitted to the dean of Academic Affairs with all required signatures.
• Once the dean approves it, the form is forwarded to Enrollment Services for processing.
• Student completes internship, including all objectives identified in the internship agreement.