Internship Prerequisites

Undergraduate Students
Graduate Students
International Graduate Students

Undergraduate Students

To qualify for an internship (HCDE 495), undergraduate students must have a cumulative 3.0 GPA in major coursework. Students are encouraged to wait until they have completed some or all core courses before applying. The internship is intended to give students a chance to consolidate and extend what they have learned in class by working in a professional setting under the guidance of a supervisor who is a practitioner in our field. It is also beneficial for students to have completed HCDE electives appropriate to the kind of experience they would like prior to applying for an internship. For example, students seeking an internship in the computer industry would ideally have taken related computer/software coursework prior to their internship application.

Internships are a graduation requirement for HCDE majors.

Graduate Students

Graduate students may count up to five credits of internship (HCDE 601) towards their degree. There are two types of graduate internships that are eligible: external and internal.

• External Internships: An external internship is taken with a company or organization that the student does not currently work for. The procedures for a graduate-student external internship are the same as for an undergraduate internship.
• Internal Internship: An internal internship is taken with the student's current employer. In this case, the student must negotiate an agreement with his or her employer that specifies the educational goals that he or she intends to achieve through the internship, the work plan (which must be separate from his or her existing duties), and the deliverables (including the number of hours per week that will be devoted to the internship rather than to his or her existing duties).

The HCDE internship advisor must approve the requirements of the internal internship. Students and the HCDE internship adviser will stay in touch during the course of the internship to make sure that the terms of the internship continue to be met and that students are being supported within the company in pursuing the internship work at the agreed-upon level.

International Graduate Students

International graduate students wishing to pursue an internship must request Curricular Practical Training (CPT) approval from International Student Services (ISS). This requires that the student submit to ISS a CPT request form with letter of support from the HCDE department. To request completion of this form and the support letter, please contact the Director of Student Services.