Internships Guidelines
General Informaion
An internship is an arrangement whereby a student gains practical work experience related to the student's particular specialty area. An internship may or may not involve a salary or wage. Under proper conditions, and subject to appropriate supervision, work experience can provide a learning experience or academic value. An internship represents an opportunity for qualified students to enhance their university training through exposure to practice situations and managerial decisions.
Students may elect to receive academic credit for qualifying work experience through BA 410A, Business Internship, subject to the approval of the College of Business. A student may, at his or her option, complete an internship-like experience without requesting academic credit. BA 410A is not offered on a programmatic basis; that is, internships are not routinely available to any student who desires one.
An internship can originate in one of two ways:
1. An organization which has decided to sponsor an internship during the year, will initiate a competitive search for an intern. An internship that originates in this way generally requires a formal interview with personnel of the sponsoring organization, conducted either at Career Services or at the office of the sponsoring organization. Information regarding these internship opportunities is posted on the main floor of Bexell Hall under "Business Employment Opportunities," and in the Career Services office.
2. A student may individually attempt to initiate an internship directly with an organization which has not previously expressed a current intention of sponsoring an internship. In either case, it is the responsibility of the student, rather than the College of Business, to secure an internship position.
Guidelines
In order to qualify for academic credit, an internship must meet the following guidelines:
1. Nature of qualifying work. The work experience must be in a particular option area, as represented by that option’s curriculum. Moreover, the work experience shall be equivalent to the type(s) of entry-level work relevant to an Oregon State University student who has completed that particular option. There is a presumption that the student will have completed a sufficient amount of upper-division course work upon which the internship is based; at a minimum, the student shall have successfully completed the intermediate courses.
2. Supervision. The administration of BA 410A will be the responsibility of the internship coordinator. The on-site work of the intern shall be supervised by a full-time work-site professional. The extent of supervision will be a function of the nature of the work and the experience of the intern.
3. Credit. A maximum of six academic credits may be granted for BA 410A. A full-time (40 hours per week) internship position for one academic term is judged to be equivalent to six credits. Internship positions requiring fewer work hours will be prorated using this standard in determining the appropriate number of credits. BA 410A is graded on a P-N basis by the departmental internship coordinator using, at a minimum, a formal written report by the student which will include the following sections: (1) a detailed description of work activity, (2) an evaluative analysis of the relationship between the work activity and the student's supporting course work, and (3) explicit suggestions for improving the internship experience.
It is possible that BA 410A credit may be used to satisfy the Oregon accounting education requirements for the CPA examination. These credits will be evaluated for this purpose on a case-by-case basis by the State Board of Accountancy with emphasis given to the nature of the work done during the internship.
4. Timing. Arrangements for the internship must be made in advance following the procedures detailed in the section below. Retroactive approval or credit for previous work experience will not be granted. A student must register for BA 410A in the term(s) in which the internship experience actually occurs.
Procedures
Once an internship has been arranged by the student, the following procedures are to be followed:
1. Prior to registering for BA 410A or starting the internship, the student should obtain, complete, and file the form "Learning Agreement." This form can be obtained from the Office of Student Services (Bexell 214).
2. Responsibility for completing the Learning Agreement rests with the student, in consultation with the departmental internship coordinator and the on-site supervisor.
3. After obtaining the required signatures of approval, the student should file a copy of the completed Learning Agreement with the Department (Bexell 206) and another with the Office of Student Services (Bexell 214). The Learning Agreement must be filed prior to registering for BA 410A or starting the internship. | 
