An internship is any carefully monitored work or service experience in which a student has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what s/he is learning throughout the experience. An internship is either directly related to a student's field of study or career interest.

• The duration can be from one month to two years, but usually lasts from three to six months.
  
• Generally an internship is a one-time experience.
  
• An internship may be part-time or full-time.
  
• It may be paid or non-paid (sometimes this is restricted by academic program).
  
• It may be part of an educational program and carefully monitored and evaluated for academic credit or may be part of a learning plan that someone develops individually.
  
• There is an intentional “learning agenda” built into the experience. Learning activities common to most internships include learning objectives, observation, reflection, evaluation and assessment.
  
• An effort is made to establish a reasonable balance between the intern's learning goals and the specific work an organization needs done.
  
• Internships promote academic, career, and/or personal development.

• An excellent source of highly motivated pre-professionals and paraprofessionals.
  
• Internships are proven, cost-effective ways to recruit and evaluate potential employees.
  
• Development of future managerial talent.
  
• Students bring new perspectives to old challenges.
  
• Allows freedom for current professional staff to pursue more strategic projects.
  
• Enhanced company relations with the university and the student.
  
• Your image in the community is enhanced as you contribute your expertise to the educational process.

Students are available to work throughout the entire year. During the academic year students usually work part-time. Due to their busy academic schedules, many students choose to intern only in the summer on either a part-time or full-time basis.

Some majors require an internship for credit as a part of the course of study. Students in other majors may be able to arrange for academic credit through an academic department.

The answer to this question lies in an analysis of the on-the-job experience that the individual will have in relation to the standard set forth under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a federal law which establishes the minimum wages for work performed.

Pursuant to this law, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has developed six criteria for differentiating between an employee entitled to minimum wage or above and a learner/trainee who may be unpaid. The criteria for learner/trainee are:

1. The training, even though it includes actual operations of the facilities of the employers, is similar to that which would be given in a vocational school.
2. The training is for the benefit of the student.
3. The student does not displace a regular employee, but works under the close observation of a regular employee or supervisor.
4. The employer provides the training and derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the student; and on occasion, the operations may actually be impeded by the training.
5. The student is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the training period.
6. The employer and the student understand that the student is not entitled to wages for the time spent training.

Not all six factors have to be present in order for the individual to be considered a trainee. The experience, however, should look more like a training/learning experience than a job.

Read more . . .

Cooperative Education and Internship Association
800.824.0449
www.ceiainc.org

National Association of Colleges and Employers
800.544.5272
www.naceweb.org

National Society for Experiential Education
800.528.3492
www.nsee.org