Note, there are many other internship opportunities available (e.g. Travelers, Cigna, Aetna, ESPN, Disney, IBM, and Google) but many of them require you to apply the September before the summer internship starts. (e.g., apply September 2020 to start Summer 2021). You can find these internships opportunities on the various company's websites.
Internship Policy
The Management Information Systems (MIS) department internship program allows students to blend academics with valuable work experience. Interns develop a better understanding of MIS, create connections, and are more likely to secure job offers from the employer they intern with.
General Info:
Consult with your MIS faculty sponsor and the MIS department chair about your placement before you commit to an internship for which you want academic credit.
An internship is:
- an experience that should enhance a student's academic, career, and personal development;
- supervised by a professional in industry and a MIS faculty sponsor;
- an experience that can be one academic term (summer, spring, fall) or multiple academic terms in length;
- a paid or unpaid, part-time or full-time experience;
- an experience that is mutually agreed upon by the student, a faculty sponsor from the MIS department, an internship company, and the MIS Department Chair;
- sufficient to meet the university requirements for awarding of 3 credit hours (i.e., a minimum of 145 hours over 15 weeks).
Course: MIS496: Practicum in MIS (3 credits). This course is for MIS majors only and can be used as an elective course. Prerequisites: MIS 315 and MIS 361 (both with grades of B or higher) and senior standing; or permission of department chair, and admission to the upper division of the Business School. Students work on a real-world project under the direct supervision of a faculty advisor. Projects may be sponsored by a host organization. Student performance is monitored and evaluated in relation to conditions set forth in an approved Special Project Request Form. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credits.
Faculty Sponsor: It is the student's responsibility to find an MIS faculty sponsor who is willing to oversee the internship.
Paid and unpaid Internships: Students often are working in a paid industry internship. They can only receive credit for a paid or unpaid internship if they complete the process below prior to starting the internship.
Internship Company: It is the student's responsibility to find a suitable company for the internship, secure an MIS faculty sponsor, and obtain the MIS chair's permission before committing to the internship.
Process:
Students looking to do an internship should find a placement they are interested in. Students then meet with their faculty sponsor to discuss the placement. You must meet with the MIS Department Chair for approval on an individual basis and this must be completed prior to the beginning of the internship semester. No credit can be awarded for an internship after the fact. The internship must relate directly to MIS or a related field.
The students must:
- submit a proposal approved by their faculty sponsor, detailing the nature of the work, an employer contact, and how the internship will enhance their academic understanding;
- ensure your employer sends an introductory email to the faculty sponsor specifying the nature of the internship, the start/end date of the internship, and the approximate number of hours to be worked per week;
- submit the proposal, the employer introductory email, and the required forms signed by the student and their faculty sponsor to the MIS chair for approval before the internship is started.
Upon completion of the above process and submission and approval of the required paperwork, the student can take the paperwork to the registrar to be registered for MIS496.
Student's Responsibilities during and after the internship:
- Students are required to keep a log of the dates and hours they worked and the tasks they performed. This must be submitted to the faculty sponsor at least monthly during the internship.
- At the end of the internship students must submit an essay to your MIS faculty advisor that links their coursework to the internship learning experience.
- When the internship is over the employer must send an email to your faculty sponsor providing an evaluation of your work experience. The employer's email should detail the hours the student worked, the type of work they were engaged in, and recommend a grade for the student.
It is the Student's responsibility to ensure these things are completed.