Internships

Undergraduate internships are available through academic departments for students with appropriate backgrounds. These internships are designed to serve two major purposes: first, to provide an opportunity for study and experience outside the traditional setting of classroom and laboratory, yet within the framework of disciplined inquiry; and second, to provide a special opportunity for the participants to refine their emerging professional/career interests. Some established internships are briefly described under sponsoring departments. Interested students should contact the listed faculty liaison for more information; not all internships are available each semester.

All students seeking academic credit for an internship must obtain faculty approval and should register for the internship prior to beginning the internship experience. Students are not permitted to register retroactively for an internship experience after the work with the community partner has already been completed. The student’s transcript will reflect internship enrollment for the semester or summer session in which the student actually participates in the internship experience.

In order for an internship to be credit-bearing and, thus, listed on a student’s academic transcript, it must require a level of work comparable to a regular Allegheny course with the same number of credit hours. In particular, such an experience must involve academic research, regular reflection, and a final project or presentation evaluated by the supervising Allegheny faculty member. See “Guidelines for Credit-Bearing Internships” for details.

Internships have course numbers between 500 and 549. Internships regularly offered by a department can be found in the departmental course listings in the Academic Bulletin. For internships that do not already have a designated course number, register in the supervising department (e.g., ECON, PSYCH…) and use the course number “529.” Please provide the Registrar’s Office with a brief, written description of any internship not described in the Academic Bulletin and also indicate the number of credits for the internship (1-4).

Some faculty and programs require that internships be taken on the Credit/No Credit basis. Please remember that no more than four credits may be taken on the Credit/No Credit basis in any semester. Make sure to discuss all expectations for the internship (including academic requirements, the number of credits, and whether the internship will be graded or CR/NC) with your faculty supervisor before registering.

Please note that many internships have specific pre- and/or co-requisites for enrollment in the internship; consult the Academic Bulletin for details.