Internships
Overview
An essential component of Professional Science M.S. Programs is an internship or cooperative educational experience with an off-campus business, industry, government agency, or research institute that is directly related to your area of study. This should be an integrative experience, engaging you in real world work situations involving technical problems, teamwork, communication skills, and decision-making. Your internship experience occurs in lieu of a master's research project and thesis, and is, therefore, an extremely important part of your graduate program. The experience should be new and add to your current set of skills. Under no circumstances will previous work experience exclude you from the internship requirement.
We encourage you to explore internship opportunities as soon as you've been accepted into the PSM Program. Your graduate committee, PSM Coordinator, and other professional contacts can all facilitate your efforts to secure an internship, but the responsibility to do so is yours. It is generally not acceptable to do your internship with the same company you have worked for in the past, UNLESS it is in an entirely different area and you can clearly demonstrate what new skills you will acquire through the experience. Similarly, it is generally not acceptable that you do your internship on-campus, UNLESS you are purposefully trying to learn new skills that cannot be obtained elsewhere.
For all internships, you must submit an Internship Proposal, developed in collaboration with your major professor and industry supervisor, to your graduate committee for approval. Once they have signed your proposal, please submit a copy to the appropriate PSM Coordinator (either Drs. Bechert or Carroll), along with the Internship Cover Page.
Most students begin their internship at the end of their first year of academic study, but this is flexible, depending on project opportunities and schedule requirements. A minimum of 6 credits of internship (xx 510) should be earned, which is generally equivalent to 3 month's of full-time (e.g., 40 hours/week) work. You can register for these credits either during one term (full-time) or over several terms based on internship requirements.
One-third of the way through your internship, you should check-in with your major professor to ensure that your project is on-track as outlined in your proposal. If any revisions need to be made based on unexpected events affecting progress or other circumstances, they should be made as soon as possible.
Throughout your internship, you will be required to maintain an Internship Journal. If you are conducting scientific experiments, your daily log should be detailed enough to enable someone to repeat your work. If you are required to sign a disclosure agreement with the company where you are doing your internship, your major professor should sign the same agreement so that your journal can be appropriately reviewed at the end of your internship. Problems you encounter and how they are resolved should all be recorded in this journal. If you are working more in an administrative position, your daily log should include details about meetings, strategies, and action items. In both situations, the journal is designed to facilitate development of effective work habits. See examples of internship journal entries in the link above.
At the conclusion of your internship, your on-site supervisor will be expected to provide your major professor with a written evaluation of your performance, and a copy should also be sent to your PSM Program Coordinator. You will be required to write a Final Internship Report, presented in both scientific as well as business plan formats. Follow the link for specific instructions and requirements. This will help you understand scientific applications and develop your skills in written communication for both business and technical audiences.
