Department of Political Science Internship Guidelines (In PDF form) (For Legislative Internship, see here.)

All internships shall have the following requirements:

  • Internships must be arranged one semester in advance. Given work requirement variation in internships, it may be necessary to earn academic credit in the semester following the work of the internship.
  • The workplace internship supervisor, in consultation with the faculty member, will provide a memo detailing workplace expectations, including the work to be performed; dress code; and the time frame for the work must be received before the professor can agree to supervise the internship.
  • The faculty member agreeing to supervise the internship should email the department chair prior to the start of the semester.
  • The supervising faculty member will maintain contact with the workplace supervisor throughout the internship to assess the satisfaction of the supervisor and to assure the quality of the internship experience for the student.
  • Workplace supervisors will be requested to complete evaluations of the student following the internship. These evaluations will not be used to calculate the grade of the student.
  • All interns will submit a weekly journal to the professor. The journal will detail the work the student has completed that week and will analyze the work in terms of its illumination of principles, concepts and/or methods learned in Political Science.
  • All interns will complete a research paper which examines the literature relevant to the organization and work conducted during the internship and analyzes the work of the internship in that context.

For undergraduates:

  • 3 credit hour internships will include a paper length of 8-10 pages with a minimum of 5 scholarly sources.
  • 6 credit hour internships will include a paper length of 12-15 pages with a minimum of 8 scholarly sources.
  • 9 credit hour internships will include a paper length of 15-20 pages with a minimum of 12 scholarly sources.

For graduate students:

  • 3 credit hour internships will include a paper length of 15 pages with a minimum of 8 scholarly sources.
  • 6 credit hour internships will include a paper length of 20 pages with a minimum of 12 scholarly sources.
  • 9 credit hour internships will include a paper length of 25 pages with a minimum of 15 scholarly sources.

3 credit hour internships involve 135 documented, supervised hours of work

6 credit hour internships involve 270 documented, supervised hours of work

9 credit hour internships involve 405 documented, supervised hours of work