Journalism
All about internships
Find an internship.
Doing an internship for credit requires Department of Journalism approval. Our decision turns on two things: your job description (we don’t want to give academic credit unless you are treated like a professional with professional responsibilities) and the nature of your supervision. Ideally, we want you to be supervised by an employer with significant experience. The point is to learn something. (To discuss internships before enrollment, see Wayne Wanta, department chair. The department’s address and phone number are above.)
Fill out an internship form, available in the Department of Journalism office. All internship applications are reviewed by the department chair. You are required to supply a detailed job description, the name of the employer and, perhaps, an example of the work done by the employer.
Credit varies according to the length of the internship and the amount worked per week. Normally, a semester-long, full-time internship is needed for the maximum three-hour credit.
Interns are expected to file progress reports on a regular basis, every three weeks or so. These can be e-mails listing daily assignments or an informal note describing your experiences on the job. Send them to wwanta@jou.ufl.edu.
Keep all of your published work and other materials you worked on that did not get published. We may ask to see work samples. You’ll certainly want to save your work for your professional portfolio.
A summary report is due at the end of the internship. It can be two or three typed pages or a lengthy e-mail. Evaluate your experience. Be honest and detailed in any criticism. This helps the department evaluate an internship experience and is not shared with your employer. It should discuss what the experience was like, the things the intern did for the employer and what sort of guidance and criticism was received.
We need an evaluation from your employer. This can be an e-mail or it can be a formal evaluation on letterhead. We try to keep this low maintenance and not burden your supervisor. The department keeps a copy of the evaluation – whatever the form – and gives a copy to the student.
Credit is awarded through JOU 4940 Internship, which is a departmentally controlled course. Registration – upon completion of the proper paperwork – is done by the Department of Journalism office. Leave the form with the department chair or the office staff.
You may take the internship credit the semester that you have the internship or the following semester. Students with summer internships frequently take the credit during the fall semester. This delayed-credit arrangement should be cleared with the department chair. There is no letter grade for the internship courses. The class must be taken pass-fail.
If for any reasßon you are uncomfortable on your internship, please let us know. If you feel that the employer is violating the guidelines of the internship, or if there is something in the workplace that makes you uncomfortable, we need to know. Please call or e-mail.
For all correspondence related to the internship, write: Wayne Wanta, professor and chair, The University of Florida Department of Journalism, P.O. Box 118400, Gainesville, Fla. 32611. E-mail: . (E-mail is preferred, but some employers like having a regular address.)
You are not required to do an internship for credit. The important thing is the experience. Sometimes, when you are not being paid on your internship, it does not seem financially wise to pay tuition and fees (JOU 4940 is a for-credit class, after all) for the privilege of working for free. It’s your decision whether you want to do an internship for credit.
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