Pre-Enrollment Checklist

Pre-Enrollment Activities

Before you enroll for in the SoC Internship program you should review all the information available on this web site. You will be required to fill out several forms, find a faculty sponsor (usually the Director of Undergraduate Studies), and petition for admittance into the program.

You should arrange for a faculty sponsor after arranging an internship, but before starting work. Credit will not be given for prior work experience!

A successful full time Cooperative Education/Internship experience will be normally be awarded 3 credit hours of Computer Science elective credit. (Note: when signing up for the course, please make sure to sign up for the appropriate number of credit hours as well as to make sure you are taking the course for a grade, not CR/NC.)

In general, part time internships are not allowed, but in rare circumstances will be awarded from 1 or 2 credit hours of technical elective credit.

Be aware, the internship program should be viewed (and presented to your employer) as an educational opportunity focusing on training and development.

Before you Enroll for the SoC Internship Program:

1. Determine that your internship will meet the qualifications

   1. Is your internship full time?

   2. Are you not taking classes during this time?

   3. Will this be your first time in a formal software industry position?

   4. Is this internship in the software field (or QA with a strong software automation component)?

   5. Does this internship meet an Academic need and compliment the other CS electives you are taking? Do you have (or have a plan for) a strong broad set of CS electives?

   6. Have you completed the prerequisite: CS 3505?

   If all of these questions are affirmatives, then....

2. Print and Fill out the Paperwork

   The following forms will be used during your internship.  You should complete (type) the first four and bring a copy when meeting with your internship advisors (faculty/industry) and once enrolled in the course, you will need to submit the forms via the appropriate "assignments".

   • Letter to Employer Download Letter to Employer
   • Internship and Student Information Form Download Internship and Student Information Form
   • Employer Agreement Download Employer Agreement
   • Student Agreement Download Student Agreement
   • Midterm Evaluation Form Download Midterm Evaluation Form
   • Final Evaluation Form Download Final Evaluation Form

3. Meet with the School of Computing Director of Undergraduate Studies:

   You will be asked to briefly discuss your proposed internship and to review your educational goals (after meeting with your employer).  Bring a copy of the printed forms with you.  Once you are enrolled you should submit an electronic copy of the forms as well.

4. Meet with your employer:

   Take the Letter to the Employer Download Letter to the Employer

    and the Sponsor Agreement Download Sponsor Agreement
    to a meeting with your employer. This will provide your employer with an overview of the internship program and his/her responsibilities. During the meeting:

   1. Obtain a Formal Job Description

      Obtain a formal job description from your employer outlining your responsibilities. It should be on company letterhead or identifiable as having been developed by your employer. Your responsibilities should be appropriate to challenge your educational level and give you the opportunity to gain experience relevant to your career goals.  Submit this description here.

   2. Find an Employer Supervisor

      Your employer must be willing to assign you a supervisor who will be responsible for your training, education, and evaluation during the internship. Perhaps a better term for the supervisor would be a "Mentor". The supervisor should sign the sponsor agreement form.

   3. Write Four Learning Objectives

      After meeting with your Industry Mentor and discussing (at a reasonable level of detail) what projects you will be working on over the summer, you will need to develop four learning objectives to accomplish during the internship's ~13 weeks. These objectives should be developed cooperatively with your employer supervisor and should be in relationship to the job responsibilities/projects you will be assigned to work on.  If there is not a plan for what projects you will be doing, it may not be appropriate for credit.

5. Meet with your Faculty Sponsor

   Note: the Faculty Sponsor will usually be the Director of Undergraduate Studies

   The purpose of this meeting is confirm that the internship meets all of the course requirements and to complete the registration process for an internship.

   Your sponsoring faculty member will review your objectives and approve them as is, or recommend changes, or explain why your job/internship does not meet the internship program criteria.

   Bring the following (filled out and/or signed) forms to the meeting with your Sponsor:

   1. A completed Student Internship Information Sheet Download Student Internship Information Sheet

   2. The signed learning agreement Download learning agreement

       documenting that you agree to the terms and conditions of the internship program.

   3. The signed sponsor agreement Download sponsor agreement

       documenting that the Internship Agency agrees to assist in the educational mission and provide feedback, training, and evaluation.

   4. The Formal Job Description you obtained from your employer.

   5. The Four Learning Objectives you wrote with your employer.

6. Register for the course

   Once all of your paperwork is completed, and assuming there is still space in the course, you will receive a course add code. You can use this code to enroll, as per all of your classes, on the UofU's student web portal.  Make sure to register for the approved number of credits and for a grade!  At this point, submit electronic version of all of your paperwork.

7. Waiting List and Enrollment Cap

   The enrollment cap for the internship course is 10 students. Students will be enrolled in the course on a first-come/first-serve basis, where "first-come" means having all the appropriate paperwork completed, and the learning objectives approved. This will often require the student to meet with their internship supervisor/mentor before the internship semester begins.