Internships

 

Last year at Penn State Brandywine, just over 80% of graduates (2011-2012) completed at least one internship for credit. 

Penn State Brandywine emphasizes the importance of Internships for their educational value, allowing students to apply classroom learning to real world experiences. Numerous other benefits exist including: increased self-awareness, skill development, discernment of interests, improved chances of employability, potential for intern to hire, expansion of professional network, professional maturity and development, the opportunity to exercise civic responsibility, preparation for graduate school application and building an impressive résumé.

Refer to the Job Search page for tips on finding Internships

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Internships Defined

An internship is a form of experiential learning that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional setting. Internships give students the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience and make connections in professional fields they are considering for career paths; and give employers the opportunity to guide and evaluate talent (source: National Association of Colleges and Employers).

To ensure that an experience is educational, and thus eligible to be considered a legitimate internship, all the following criteria must be met:

1. The experience must be an extension of the classroom: a learning experience that provides for applying the knowledge gained in the classroom. It must not be simply to advance the operations of the employer or be the work that a regular employee would routinely perform.
2. The skills or knowledge learned must be transferable to other employment settings.
3. The experience has a defined beginning and end, and a job description with desired qualifications.
4. There are clearly defined learning objectives/goals related to the professional goals of the student’s academic coursework.
5. There is supervision by a professional with expertise and educational and/or professional background in the field of the experience.
6. There is routine feedback by the experienced supervisor.
7. There are resources, equipment, and facilities provided by the host employer that support learning objectives/goals.

For experiences in which the student is also earning academic credit, the college or university’s requirements in combination with the criteria laid out above will be used to determine if the experience is a legitimate internship.

Students can complete an internship with or without enrolling in a credit-bearing internship course, depending on the employer requirements. Internships can be paid or unpaid (see Unpaid Internships for more details about the law on this). Five Brandywine majors have a required internship component. Students in the other majors can sometimes opt to take an internship course for credit and must contact the Internship Coordinator for their major for more details.

To learn more, view the following:

Unpaid Internships - the 6 Criteria by Law
Internship Guidebook
Internships Demystified (slide presentation)
Internships at our State Capitol (slide presentation)

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Internship Assistance

Students who are required to complete an internship in order to graduate will need to meet with the Internship Coordinator (shown below for Brandywine majors). Brandywine students intending to transfer to another campus, and who also desire credit, must call the College/Department of their major at the other campus to discuss whether it is possible to earn credit before transferring to that campus.

Career Services is available to assist students with the identification of internship opportunities. The primary resources for finding internships include:

• Nittany Lion Career Network, Penn State’s private job board utilized by all Penn State campuses
• Bulletin board in the entryway of the cafeteria
• The Angel group “Brandywine Career Services” which contains listings of past interns sites

Be sure to check these resources routinely as they are updated on a regular basis.

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Internship Coordinators by Brandywine Major

American Studies
Dr. Phyllis Cole, pbc2@psu.edu

Business
Instructor Kathleen Yanoshak, kmy10@psu.edu

Communication Arts and Sciences
Instructor Karrie Bowen, kab44@psu.edu

Corporate Communications
Instructor Karrie Bowen, kab44@psu.edu

Elementary Education
Dr. Lynn Hartle, lch1@psu.edu

English
Dr. Adam Sorkin, ajs2@psu.edu

Human Development and Family Studies
Instructor Katherine Meehan, kxm67@psu.edu

Information Sciences and Technology
Instructor Nannette D'Imperio, nxd13@psu.edu

Letters, Arts, and Sciences
Instructor Patricia Hillen, pah14@psu.edu

Psychology
Dr. Pauline Guerin, pbg12@psu.edu

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Requirements for Brandywine Majors

Students can complete an internship with or without a credit course, unless employer requires enrollment in a credit-bearing course. Students from all Brandywine majors can complete an internship for credit. Five majors at Brandywine have a required internship built into the curriculum. The number of hours and credits varies by major. Below is a chart showing those majors that have a required internship and accompanying credits and hours.

 

Internship Requirements for Brandywine Majors

Major	Year Student Completes Internship	# hours Required	Total # credits earned (prep course+ internship +supervision course)
Business  (Options: Accounting,  Financial Svcs,  Mktg, Mgmt)	Senior	300 +	4 - 7
Corporate Communications	Senior	120	3
Elementary Education	Senior (field exp. done earlier)	480	18
Human Development & Family Studies	Senior	480	14
Information Sciences & Technology	As early as freshman year	300	1

 

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Internship Acceptance Form

All students are asked to complete this form AFTER it has been confirmed by the employer that you have been accepted at your internship site. Students may access the Acceptance Form in order to print and share with their internship supervisor to plan well before completing the online form.

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Survey for Student Interns

All students are asked to complete this survey at the end of their internship so that we can share potential opportunities with future interns.

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Course Offering

CN ED 296A: Career Management Strategies (1 credit) – appropriate for students at all academic levels who are focused on a major and preparing for an internship or career search. This course is highly recommended for IST and Corporate Communications majors since these have a required internship. HDFS and Brandywine Business majors have a required equivalent preparation course (BA 420 and HDFS 490), however, these courses cannot be taken until senior year. Refer to the online schedule for more details.

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Vault Career Insider

Contains free Career Guides including "Guide to Top Internships." Students must create an account using their Penn State email address in order to be able to download guides.

 

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