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Registered Internship Policies and Requirements

Registered Internship Policies and Requirements

  • General Internship Policies from the College Catalog

    Students are advised to refer to the Courses sections for courses 621-624 and to consult individually with  faculty members regarding departmental policies governing internships, including grading. The following college policies apply to internships:

    1. Only Macalester departments may offer internships and only if they are listed in the departmental course offerings.
    2. Students are required to complete a Learning Contract for each separate internship experience and have it reviewed and signed before they can register for an internship.
    3. A maximum of twenty-four 600-level credits may be counted toward graduation.  This includes: tutorials (601-604), independent study projects (611-614), internships (621-624), preceptorships (631-634) and honors independents (641-644).
    4. Students with first year status are not permitted to undertake an internship for credit during their first year at Macalester, including January.
    5. Students may not take an internship if they have any incomplete(s), unless they have the permission of the instructor who assigned the incomplete.
    6. Students on academic probation may not undertake internships.
    7. Students may not register in a single term for more than six semester hours of internship credit that takes place outside of the Twin Cities area, or for more than four semester hours of credit for a single internship in the Twin Cities.
    8. Students may not earn more than four credits for an internship at a host site doing a single defined job function.  Earning additional credit at the same site would require the student to move into a substantially different role that involves a new title, new role responsibilities and different learning challenges. 
    9. Exceptions must be approved by the faculty sponsor and the Associate Director of Academic Internships.

    Note: Career Exploration staff does not advise students regarding department-specific policies. Students are responsible for this information and are encouraged to consult the catalog and speak to department faculty if they have questions.
  • Hours Required for Credit

    Use the following tables as a guide to help you decide the number of credits you wish to pursue for your internship. You can always register for fewer credits than the hourly requirement suggests, but you must complete the minimum number of hours for each credit level. A deficit in your total number of completed hours may result in an incomplete grade or credit penalties.

    FALL/SPRING/SUMMER INTERNSHIPS

    (Must be a minimum of 8 weeks)

    Credits Minimum hours per term  Approximate weekly equivalent for a 12 week internship
    4 140 10-12 hours per week
    3 105 8-9 hours per week
    2 75 6-7 hours per week
    1 50 4-5 hours per week

    WINTER BREAK/JANUARY TERM INTERNSHIPS

    (Must be a minimum of three weeks)

    Credits Minimum hours Approximate weekly equivalent for a 3 week internship
    2 100 30-40 hours per week
    1 50 15-20 hours per week

  • Required Internship Components to Earn Academic Credit

    The table below lists the required components that need to be completed in order for a student to earn academic credit for their internship. Each of these serves a specific purpose and is meant to provide an opportunity for the student to learn, grow, and reflect on their internship experience. This is partly why we do not register internships retroactively. The components, particularly the evaluation forms, are tools for development that are most powerful and relevant when completed at the appropriate times. The student assignments in bold will be facilitated via Moodle.

    STUDENTS

    Experience Request Submit an Experience request in Handshake that includes the internship information and the Learning Contract. The Learning Contract includes learning objectives and academic outcome measures. (The Experience must be approved by the faculty sponsor and site supervisor in order to register the internship).
    Communication with faculty sponsor Set up a schedule with your faculty sponsor in order to practice regular communication about your internship throughout the term. 
    Initial Check-In Complete the check-in form to share with the Career Exploration department how your internship has started; this helps our department be proactive in troubleshooting any challenges or issues. Submit this Google form by the deadline.
    Informational Interview Schedule and conduct an informational interview with someone other than your site supervisor and submit a short reflection paragraph. Details on how to conduct an informational interview are found on this Quick Start guide. 
    Self-Evaluation and Reflection Synthesize what you’ve learned in your internship on the self-evaluation and reflection form by answering both qualitative and quantitative prompts about your internship experience and the skills you’ve learned. Submit this Google form by the deadline.
    Timesheet Complete the contracted hours by the end of the term and to the employer’s satisfaction. You can use the template at this link for tracking your hours, or you can submit screenshots or a PDF of your organization/company’s internal tracking system. 
    Additional assignments Complete any additional assignments that your faculty sponsor requires for the internship. You are responsible for tracking and turning in these assignments to your faculty sponsor directly; since they are individualized, Career Exploration does not facilitate these. 

    SITE SUPERVISORS

    Memo of Understanding This document outlines the responsibilities of Macalester College and the responsibilities of the internship site as it relates to internships registered through the college. Note that this is not a separate document that needs to be signed by site supervisors. By approving of the internship through the Handshake platform, the site supervisor agrees to these terms (a copy of the memo is linked on the approval email for review).
    Midterm Evaluation Site supervisors evaluate students near the midterm date of their internships in order to provide feedback to the student regarding progress, as well as growth areas, around the student’s performance. This is sent to site supervisors as a Google form via email and is due one week after it has been sent. 
    Final Evaluation The final evaluation of the student is similar to the midterm evaluation, but is meant to highlight the student’s performance throughout the course of the semester as well as growth in the skills that they have developed. This is sent to site supervisors as a Google form via email and is due each semester on the dates listed in the next section. 
    Timesheet Approval Site supervisors need to approve of the student’s timesheet. This can be a signature on the Macalester-provided template or a confirmation via email that the student has submitted the correct hours. 

  • Deadlines and Due Dates

    Registration deadlines for the current academic year are listed below; they will also be posted on the Career Exploration website and in the MacDaily on a term-by-term basis. The deadline for the term means that a student must have all information submitted to Career Exploration by this date and time. The paperwork includes: 

    • Faculty Sponsor and Site Supervisor approval of the Experience request in Handshake
      • The approval email is sent first to the Faculty Sponsor. Once they approve, it is then sent to the Site Supervisor. Due to this structure, the approval process can take a few days to complete. 
    • Registration form (for the Registrar)
    • Essential Dates and Agreement form (for Career Exploration)
    • If a student is an international student: CPT form (for ISP)

    Academic Year 2024-2025 Deadlines and Due Dates:

    Fall 2024 January term/winter break 2025 Spring 2025 Summer 2025
    Experience request on Handshake opens: August 1 November 15 January 3 April 1
    Registration deadline: September 13 December 15 January 31 May 2 (extensions may be available but students must email [email protected] to request ahead of time)
    Midterm evaluation due:  October 30 N/A March 5 One week after Career Exploration sends the evaluation via email
    Final evaluation due:  December 11 January 22 May 7 August 13
    Self-evaluation and reflection due: December 11 January 22 May 7 August 13
    Approved timesheet due:  December 11 January 22 May 7 August 13

    If you have an internship offer in the works and may have issues meeting the deadline, contact the internship team in Career Exploration as soon as possible at [email protected]. In order to receive an extension, you must communicate with the Career Exploration department in advance and in a timely manner.

    Registration requests received after the deadline will be considered on a case-by-case basis in conjunction with the Registrar, and Student Accounts in the summer term. 
  • Withdrawals

    To withdraw from an internship after the Add/Drop deadline has passed, students must obtain permission from the faculty sponsor and the Associate Director of Academic Internships. Here are the steps for withdrawal: 

    • Arrange the end of your internship with your site supervisor (if circumstances allow). 
    • Reach out to your faculty sponsor and discuss the possibility of a withdrawal. 
    • Email the Associate Director at [email protected] and request a withdrawal. Confirm that your site supervisor is aware of your decision and cc your faculty sponsor on the email. The Associate Director may request a follow-up conversation. 
    • The internship team will request the withdrawal from the Registrar and will confirm with the student if and when the request is fulfilled. 

    Consult the Academic Calendar to view withdrawal deadlines. 
  • Tuition Policy for Summer Internships

    Macalester’s policy is that Academic Year 2023-2024 balances must be paid in full prior to registration for internships for Summer 2024.  The Summer 2024 tuition rate is $2021 per credit hour and will be charged and billed in mid-May.   

    The cost of tuition for one credit can be waived under one of the following conditions:

    1. International students required by the Dept. of Homeland Security to register an internship for credit (ie: international students at Macalester on a visa).
    2. Students who are required by their host organization/company to register their paid/unpaid internship for credit as a condition of employment. We will require documentation of this requirement from the organization (e.g. a company policy description, position description, or email from supervisor stating this requirement.)
    3. Students who receive Macalester funding for a summer internship or fellowship.
    4. Students in the Political Science major, American Studies major, and Food, Agriculture, and Society concentration (departments that include an internship or practicum experience as a graduation requirement).

    Note: students majoring in Environmental Studies would not generally qualify for the tuition waiver because the required internship/practicum experiences are built into a class that students take during the academic year.