The Black School of Business at Penn State Behrend is committed to providing the highest quality education possible to its students. We encourage students to complete at least one internship before graduation. Students benefit from internships by establishing professional contacts, exploring career options, and gaining valuable work experience, all with a sense of personal accomplishment. Sponsoring organizations observe employment prospects on a relatively long-term basis and accomplish projects that might not be otherwise possible at existing staffing levels. Internships can be flexibly structured based on the sponsoring organization’s needs and the student (subject to the Black School of Business Internship Policy Guidelines).
Before you begin:
- Your internship must be in one of the eight disciplines of the Black School of Business.
- Your faculty advisor must teach within the discipline of your internship.
- You must be active at the internship during the semester that you register for credit. In other words, under no circumstances may a student register for an internship during a semester where the student is not actively working at the internship (e.g. fall credit for a summer internship).
- You must declare your major in LionPath.
Who is Involved?
A successful internship program requires the cooperation of three individuals, each with specific responsibilities.
- Student Intern: The intern is an enrolled student who has met eligibility requirements. The school determines the student’s eligibility through the student’s GPA or completed course work.
- Faculty Supervisor: This supervisor is an official University representative who has faculty status and is responsible for the internship’s academic oversight. Faculty may only supervise an internship that is within their own discipline.
- Site Supervisor/Sponsoring Organization: The site supervisor is the officially recognized professional at the sponsoring organization responsible for on-site supervision and evaluation of the intern.
Responsibilities
Student Intern: The student is responsible for obtaining an internship, meeting all departmental and Black School requirements, and completing the appropriate paperwork, and completing the assigned workload for the sponsoring organization. The signed internship proposal serves as the formal agreement for the establishment of the internship and its evaluation. The student is responsible for completing all course requirements, as indicated in the internship proposal form.
Interns should conduct themselves professionally at all times, including developing respectful and cooperative relationships with the site supervisor and other employees at the sponsoring organization. Students should establish and maintain regular, punctual working hours; conduct themselves ethically; conform to the sponsoring organization’s policies and procedures, and execute the internship position’s duties and responsibilities. Failure to comply with the sponsoring organization’s policies may result in the termination of the internship.
Faculty Supervisor: The faculty supervisor determines whether the internship is worthy of academic credit based on the type of work to be performed and the contribution the internship will make to the student’s learning experience. The faculty supervisor is responsible for the initial approval of the internship proposal and monitoring the student’s activities for the duration of the internship.
The faculty supervisor may contact the site supervisor to check on the progress of the intern. Student meetings, consultations with the site supervisor, or on-site visits are acceptable examples. At the internship’s conclusion, the faculty supervisor will assign the internship grade following the internship proposal and departmental guidelines.
Site Supervisor/Sponsoring Organization: The sponsoring organization agrees to provide a supervised, relevant learning experience for the student intern. The exact nature of this experience will vary from discipline to discipline and from student to student. The internship proposal serves as the formal agreement concerning specific duties and expectations of each internship.
The site supervisor will ensure that the student is aware of all relevant company policies and procedures. At regular intervals, the site supervisor will communicate with the intern regarding the quality of their work. If the site supervisor believes that the intern’s performance is marginal or poor, the intern should be notified and given steps to improve their performance.
Before the intern’s semester’s conclusion, the site supervisor will complete an evaluation of the intern’s performance (as provided by the Black School of Business). This evaluation is an assessment of the proficiency and general attitude demonstrated by the student intern. The site supervisor is encouraged to write additional comments concerning strength or improvement, which will help the intern in their career growth and development.