INTERNSHIP PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Overview
Summer 2021 Updates
Requirements
Petition
Important Dates

Overview of the Internship (191I or 195I) course:

• Declare Business Administration, Economics, or Fashion Merchandising as a major (pre-business majors can not earn academic elective credit in 191/195-level courses.)
• Complete BA105W AND at least one course in your option.
• View our database of Internships: create an account on HIREFRESNOSTATE and upload a current resume. We STRONGLY suggest you have your resume reviewed before you do this. We list both paid and unpaid positions here throughout the year (Fall, Summer, and Spring); depending on when you complete the internship you will be enrolled in either a Summer, Fall or Spring course.
• Secure your Internship, enroll in the course, and then submit a Petition for Academic Credit. This is an online process. Please check the accuracy of the email addresses you provide, mis-typed email addresses can delay the process.

 Summer 2021 Updates:

All Internship courses in Summer 2021/Fall 2021 are OPEN ENROLLMENT. Please enroll in your option course during your registration appointment starting on Monday, 4/19/2021. An excess unit petition will be provided to all those whom need it to enroll in the fall section. 

You must have an internship to participate in the course. Enrollment in the class does NOT ensure you placement in an internship nor should you assume that you can complete the course without a position. You are still responsible for SECURING YOUR OWN POSITION. Failure to do so by census date will result in an administrative drop from the course.

After you enroll in the course, you will be placed in a Canvas module that will guide you through the process of reporting your internship. Once you have reported your internship, you will be moved into the full course on Canvas and may start tracking your hours. 

Requirements for consideration of an Internship for Academic Credit:

• Minimum 150 hours of work, paid or unpaid, at an approved worksite.
  • All internship sites are subject to OSPD and university review. All worksites MUST have current ELA and Risk Assessment paperwork on file with the University. Petitions at unapproved worksites, for whom paperwork cannot be obtained, will be denied. For more information on this, please contact Mary Willis, University Internship Coordinator, at mwillis@mail.fresnostate.edu.
• Relevant to your option (for example, if you are an Accountancy major, you can't do a Marketing internship for academic credit.)
• Over-site/management of your position provided by a professional staff member. You may NOT be supervised or evaluated by a member of your family, should they be employed at the same business. You may also not complete a traditional internship at a company that is owned and/or operated by a family member. If you fall into either of these categories, please indicate this on the petition and we will contact you about the project-based internship option.
• If you are currently employed at your site, your Internship must NOT include any of your current duties. Please contact us to discuss options if you wish to use your current work site for a project-based internship.
• If you are found to have at any point during the semester to have submitted inaccurate information or misrepresented the job site or your internship, the Academic Petition is considered void and you will receive NC in the course. University sanctions may apply if academic dishonesty is determined to have occurred. 

• Submitting a petition does NOT guarantee approval for credit. Petitions may denied by the internship faculty for any of the reasons above, including if the faculty member suspects there is mis-information being presented. 

Information you need to collect BEFORE you submit an Academic Credit Petition:

• This document is multiple pages and will take 15-20 minutes to complete. We recommend using a desktop vs. mobile device. It will be made available in the canvas module. 

  What you will need before you complete the petition:

  • The name and contact information (phone number, email address, and business address) of your internship supervisor.
  • Your job description, compensation information, hours per week, and start/end date.
  • Your three (3) learning objectives for the internship:
    • What do you hope to achieve by participating in this internship experience?
    • What specific knowledge and professional skills do you hope to gain from this proposed internship?
    • How will this internship relate to your academic major/option?
  • The name and full contact information for two (2) emergency contacts.

Dates/Deadlines:

• Students enroll in the semester that most closely-aligns with internship dates
• Unpaid Interns MUST be enrolled in a 191I/195I course before beginning any hours, no exceptions.

Develop your resume 

Resume Worksheet

Sample Resume

Common Resume Errors

Search for an Internship 

HireFresnoState

LinkedIn

InDeed 

International Students/CPT

START HERE. You must attend an ISSP workshop before you submit a petition