internship coordinator

Sadie Wilks
225-578-3912

email

Internship Information for Employers 

Industry internships are important to our program. The ideal internship creates a partnership between the Manship School and an employer in which students can apply academic theories and skills to real world opportunities while bringing employers energetic and knowledgeable workers who may be excellent potential future employees.

What, When & How

The Manship School encourages internships with businesses and organizations devoted to, or with a component unit, dedicated to the mass communication industry.

• Internships in all areas of our curriculum that mirror the industry are encouraged: digital advertising, public relations, journalism, political communication as well as multimedia and combinations of the above.
• When? Fall, spring and summer semesters. Please make internship information available in advance of the semester in which you will be hiring. If a student takes your internship for credit, s/he must work 15 hours per week during fall and spring semesters and 28 hours per week during the summer semester.
• We also encourage employers to pay their interns because students often must forgo other paying jobs in order to get this valuable experience. See the current guidelines for unpaid interns. 

Setting up an Internship

The School requires a written job description, which allows students to find positions for which they’re qualified and interested. This should be emailed to the Internship Coordinator or listed in Handshake and should include as much detail as possible: the intern’s responsibilities; specific skills needed (i.e. writing, computer, etc.); contact information for the intern’s professional supervisor; a brief overview of your organization or business, plus your website address so students can learn more about your company. If a student interns for credit, his/her supervisor will be required to submit an electronic evaluation to the school at midterm and at the conclusion of the semester. The evaluations are online and links will be sent to the supervisor via email. Should questions arise during the course of the internship, employers are encouraged to call the student’s area head, the internship coordinator, or the dean at any time.

Digital/Virtual Internships

The Manship School encourages internships that are supervised in person. Therefore, internships for digital entities that are done remotely from the supervisor may not be approved to earn credit. The approval of such internships will be at the discretion of the area heads in consultation with the associate dean for undergraduate studies.

Internship Location & Supervisor Requirements

The Manship School encourages internships with professional outlets – businesses and organizations that are devoted to or have a component unit dedicated to the mass communication industry. Internships should also promote writing and processes that follow mass communication professional norms. Additionally, the supervisor must be a professional in the mass communication field or have served as the communications person within his/her place of employment.