Internships

All students who are declared in the Associate of Science (AS) degree will be required to complete an internship (CAR 299). AAS degrees and certificates also require an internship or practicum.

Requirements to Enroll in Internship Course

Students may enroll in their internship course when they have met ALL of the following requirements:

1. For AS degrees, student has successfully completed a certificate related to their internship.
2. For AAS degrees, student has completed no less than 50% of their core AAS degree courses and has program chair approval. (see program chair for details).
3. Has a minimum 2.4 cumulative GPA in their certificate or core AAS classes through Ensign College.
4. Has been enrolled for at least two semesters at Ensign College.

NOTE: Please check the catalog if you have certificate-only internship requirements that are not part of an AAS or AS degree and to see if your program has additional or different requirements.

Internship Standards

It is required that all Ensign College internship experiences include the following standards:

1. Directly related to a student’s certificate or degree program.
2. Allows the student supervised practical application of previously studied theory.
3. Is focused on real-world projects and problems serving employers or clients who are external to the College.
4. Ideally includes expanding a student’s professional network and relationships beyond their current on-campus relationships.
5. Requires enrollment in an academic internship course.

NOTE: An internship is not a component of a course. An internship is an applied work experience that has some related academic assignments.

College-Wide Capabilities (CWC)

It is anticipated that an internship at Ensign College will include further development of the College-Wide Capabilities that are related to what employers are looking for in good candidates, namely:

1. Teamwork and Leadership
2. Communication
3. Technical Skills
4. Problem Solving
5. Professionalism

Students are encouraged to utilize the resources and preparation available at Career and Internship Services to assist them with this responsibility.

In the event a student has two certificates in their AS degree, they only need to complete an internship related to one certificate to satisfy the internship requirement.

All students will be required to enroll in the internship course outlined in their program of study and complete the required assignments, including recording the hours worked each week. Once a student is enrolled in the course with the appropriate credits, they will not be permitted to change the number of credits after the add/drop deadline.

See the Academic Calendar for dates and deadlines. There are no exceptions to changing credits after the add/drop deadline, and all registration policies apply to internships.

AAS Degree Internships

AAS degree students may take a different internship class unique to their program.

AS Degree Internships

All AS degree students are required to take CAR 299 – unless their certificate specifies a different internship or practicum course.

Minimum number of hours and weeks

Most students will enroll in CAR 299 for one credit. The majority of employers will expect interns to work 20-40 hours per week for at least one semester. Although most internship providers will require more than 70 hours of work, no internship will be authorized that does not meet the minimum of 70 hours of work for the semester.

It is essential that students work the number of hours and weeks that they agree to with the internship provider – even if it exceeds the minimum number of hours required for a one-credit internship.

Internships must require at least ten hours of work per week.

Although the internship must involve at least ten hours per week for at least seven weeks, there is no requirement to enroll in more than one credit. For example, a student may find an internship for 40 hours per week for 14 weeks. This will satisfy the minimum requirement of 70 hours and the student can still sign up for 1 credit.

If a student desires to earn and pay for additional credits, they may enroll in one to three credits as follows:

• 1 credit = working no less than 70 hours during the semester
• 2 credits = working no less than 140 hours during the semester
• 3 credits = working no less than 210 hours during the semester

Enrolling in two or three credit internships requires coordination with the Internship Office and the Registration Office as this is not the normal expectation. Again, there is no requirement to pay for two or three credits just because your internship will require you to work more than 70 hours.

On-campus Internships

Approval for on-campus internship experiences will be a rare exception and determined by the Internship Committee.

International Internships

For International internship opportunities please contact Career & Internship Services to make sure you have health insurance, business insurance and legal documentation in place for the specific country you will be working as an intern. Also, discuss your plans with the International Student Office prior to your internship.

International Student Work Limitations

International students working in the United States are only permitted to work a maximum of 20 hours per week, unless they are on an official vacation semester which has been approved by the International Office. International students must get approval from the International Student Office Manager before committing to any internship. See Curriculum Practical Training (CPT) policies and visit the International Student Office for eligibility requirements.

Using Existing Job for an Internship

If students already have a job that they believe relates to their certificate program, they can use this to fulfill the internship requirement provided their Program Chair approves the internship as being related to their earned certificate or degree. If this is an on-campus job the internship must be approved by the Internship Committee as well.

For more information on internships, visit the Internship page of Career and Internship Services at https://www.ensign.edu/internships.