FAQ
Important Information about the Internship for Credit Program
Please review the following information before deciding on if the internship for credit course is appropriate for you.
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What is the purpose of a CS elective Internship?
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The purpose of the internship program is to give students who have not previously worked in industry, a chance to embark on a structured program revolving around the students education.
The student must find a mentor at the company who agrees to supervise the student, helping with learning objectives, introducing the student to a network of peers, as well as showing the student the "ropes" of working in industry.
Again, a strong structure is put into place prior to the internship to provide the student with weekly goals, educational opportunities, as well as requiring the student to report on weekly progress. A final paper, reporting on all that has been accomplished by the student, is required demonstrating the learning that has taken place.
Candidate students must demonstrate initiative, self motivation, and professionalism.
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When should I get everything set up by? What are the important dates?
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You should get permission to take the internship two weeks before the semester begins. This includes getting all the paperwork completed and signed.
It is up to you to schedule a time to meet with Professor de St. Germain before the end of the proceeding semester. If you are having trouble reaching the professor, please bring a list of all your available meeting times to the front office staff and ask them to deliver it.
- It should also be noted that sometimes your internship timeline will not match exactly with the University semester. This is perfectly acceptable (as long as the internship, and all work, is completed within a few weeks of the end of the semester. In such cases, the professor will assign you an "I" (incomplete) grade when grades are due and change the grade once all your work is done (again, in the next couple of weeks).
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What does "...a broad and well rounded set of academic explorations." mean?
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As stated elsewhere, the CEIP program is designed to complement the academic goals of our CS students. When appropriate, it will count as one of the seven CS electives. The rest of the electives should represent a broad and well rounded set of academic explorations.
The School of Computing is committed to producing the best students in the state of Utah and surrounding regions. Further, we expect our top students to compare favorably with students anywhere. Thus we expect our students to have a breadth and depth of CS understanding that comes with taking a wide range of challenging CS topics.
While learning through an internship is a great opportunity regardless, students who wish to do so for academic credit should have a strong set of electives to base this learning upon. A strong academic record might look like: Operating Systems, Databases, Graphics, an Internship, Machine Learning, Compilers, and Security. Students without a plan to accomplish a broad range of fundamental courses may not be allowed to count the Internship toward an elective.
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Past/Current Work: Can I get "free" credit for just working?
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No! The Internship must involve new, university-level learning experience. The purpose of the internship program is for you to receive education and mentoring equivalent to a semester long course at the University. The purpose is not to provide already working students with a way to lower their requirements by 3 credit hours.
The internship requires that you find a faculty and industry advisor/mentor, that combined you determine four learning goals that you will achieve over the semester, that you get weekly mentoring from your company, that you make weekly reports on what you are learning/doing, and that you write a final report describing your internship, what was learned, etc.
If your job involves "deliverables", you probably are not a candidate for an internship.
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Past/Current Work: Can I receive academic credit for an Internship I've already done?
- No. See "What is the purpose of an internship?".
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Past/Current Work: Can I receive academic credit for an Internship I'm currently in the middle of?
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Credit: How much academic credit can I earn?
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Most full time, full summer (>=13 week) internships are evaluated at 3 credit hours. The program is not setup for part time or short internships.
For special circumstances, please speak with Prof. de St. Germain
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Credit: How does the credit affect my graduation?
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A 3 credit hour internship will fulfill one of the 7 CS electives required of all students. A 1 or 2 hour internship can be combined with other sources (such as the TA workshop, industry forum, research forum, or programming challenges course, totalling 3 or more credits) to fulfill a CS elective.
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Credit: How does the credit show on my transcript?
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Grades: Will I be graded? How will I be graded?
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Yes, your letter grade will be assigned by the instructor in charge of the course based upon: 1) your written work during the internship, 2) your midterm and final evaluations by your industry mentor, 3) and your final paper.
Please see the course learning outcomes and evaluation metrics for more information.
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Assignments: When are the weekly assignments due?
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Assignments are due at the end of each week. It is up to you whether this is Friday, Saturday, or Sunday (or even Monday). Please try to be reasonably consistent, but overall, you have leeway to organize your own schedule.
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Other Courses: Should I take courses while I intern?
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Should I work full time/part time?
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The program is geared toward a full time internship either during the summer, or during a semester where no courses are taken.
Students should be immersing themselves into a job environment where they show up early in the morning and work all day, without the pressure or distractions that coursework involves.
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Can I receive "Career Services Internship Program" credit as well as "School of Computing" credit?
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No. The SoC program is specialized to provide Computer Science elective credit. Credit given for internships arranged via Career Services will only count toward your University 122 credit hour requirement.
Additionally you are not allowed to receive both Career Services credit and CS credit for the same internship.
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What does it cost?
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In order to receive credit, you must sign up for the official CS course during the given semester (e..g, summer). The tuition/fees are the same as if you were taking any course.
It should be noted that you should be paid (and paid well) by your employer.
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How often do I see the professor? Are there lectures in this course?
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The Internship for Credit program revolves around your relationship with your work supervisor/mentor. The learning you attain is from being in a (full time) work environment, working with a professional team, under the guidance of an experienced manager. You will only see the professor before the start of the semester, during the internship site visit, and possibly at then end of the summer for a recap/reflective review.
The writing you do is to a) enforce self evaluation and reflection, and b) to show your proficiency at communicating important aspects of your "growth" process during the summer.
Thus, you should expect to receive feedback on your writing in "chunks", once after 3 weeks, once at 7 weeks and/or during the site visit, and finally at end of the semester. Should one of these deadlines go by and you have not received feedback, this could mean that your essays are not being sent or that they are being "archived" incorrectly; in either case you should email a separate email asking for clarification and an update. It is up to you to establish contact with the professor in a timely manner. This may mean sending multiple emails or calling the School of Computing front office (e.g., if the professor is out of town).
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What are the U's guidelines on when I must accept an internship offer?
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Sounds Great! Who should I see?