(Adopted 10-2-2006)

Pursuant to the policy adopted by the Faculty Senate, students serving as interns in any capacity (i.e., legislative, administrative, election campaign, pre-law) may earn up to 6 credits (PSCI 498). Students may earn additional credits in other ways - e.g., enrolling in a campus course or Internet course or an independent study project (PSCI 492). Students earning internship credit must have junior standing or consent of instructor. Internships receive only a credit/no-credit grade. No more than 7 internship and independent study credits combined may apply toward the number of political science credits required of the major.

A student desiring to receive internship credit must contact Academic Enrichment, complete that office's Learning Agreement, and arrange for the work-site supervisor to send directly to the academic supervisor (the faculty member approving and grading the internship) a letter with the following information: 1) acceptance of the student as an intern, 2) internship assignments/tasks the student will be given, 3) amount of time in terms of weeks and hours per week the student will work as an intern, and 4) willingness to send an evaluation of the intern to the academic supervisor at the end of the internship.

The academic supervisor will determine the number of credits to allow for the internship (which can be no more than 6) using the following guideline: normally each hour of internship credit must be based on 60 hours of approved work. The academic supervisor will require the intern to submit periodic journal entries in which the intern discusses for the period covered by the journal entry: 1) the assignments/tasks undertaken, 2) the number of hours worked, and 3) what the intern has learned, from a political science perspective, from the internship. Inlieu of the journal, the academic supervisormay require submission of a paper. The academic supervisor may also impose additional academic requirements (e.g., reading and writing) for receiving internship credit.

Interns desiring to earn additional credits by enrolling in an independent study project (PSCI 492) must fulfill the department's "Independent StudyRequirements.” For example, for one credit a student may present a 10-page, double-spaced research paper, or its equivalent, which is acceptable to the professor directing the independent study. A student can enroll for an independent study project only with the consent of a political science professor. Independent study projects are graded on a letter-grade basis or on a credit/no-credit basis, at the student's option.

No more than 7 credits of independent study and internship combined may apply toward the number of political science credits required for the major.