Current Students: Senior Professional Internship

Senior Professional Internship Requirements and Registration

Internships are designed to enable you to relate your academic studies in Communication to the reality of the communication world. A student majoring in Journalism, Public Communication, Communication Studies, or Film and Media Arts are eligible to receive credit for an internship during their senior year of study. Students must have a 2.5 GPA and complete the following requirements

Prerequisites

  • Senior standing (90 credits or more completed)
  • 2.5 GPA or better
  • Broadcast Journalism majors must have completed COMM 385
  • Print Journalism majors must have completed one skills course
  • Film and Media Arts majors must have completed COMM 331 or 382
  • Public Communication majors must have completed COMM 337, 346 or 380
  • Communication Studies majors must have completed all “core” courses

If you do not meet the prerequisites for the Senior Professional Internship and your internship requires that you receive academic credit, please contact your SOC academic advisor.

How to Register

1) Research and apply for several internship opportunities. Internship postings are accessible through the Career Center on the 5th floor of Butler Pavilion and online at www.american.edu/careercenter.

2) Once you have secured an internship, please fill out the Internship Registration Forms and Job Description Form in their entirety. Incomplete forms will not be processed.  

3) Deliver your internship paperwork to your academic advisor’s mailbox in MGC 300 (place it in the Senior Internship folder) for her approval and signature. Your advisor will then obtain the faculty supervisor’s signature and the Dean’s signature. You will not need to obtain any signatures but your own.  

4) Once your advisor has obtained all of the needed signatures, you will be registered for COMM-491. Once this is complete, an email will be sent to let you know that the registration has occurred. At this point you will see the class on your schedule and be added to the COMM-491 blackboard page. It is your responsibility to adjust your schedule as needed.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

  • Students are required to complete 180 total hours (15 hrs. week) and must be over the twelve-week period of the semester.
  • Your grade will be based upon the required course work indicated in the syllabus and evaluations collected from your site internship supervisor. It is your responsibility to secure a syllabus for the class.
  • This course is taught by professor Larry Kirkman.
  • Course will meet three times during the spring 2013 semester. Time - TBA
  • Deadlines to add internships:
    Summer - Friday, May 24 2013
    Fall - Monday, September 9, 2013
    Spring - Monday, January 28, 2013
  • Professor Gemma Puglisi will be teaching the Summer internship course. Download syllabus