Media and Information Internships for Credit

Earning Credit for Internships

Undergraduate students can enroll in MI 493 for internship credit. In order to qualify for internship credit, the student must satisfy the Eligibility Requirements and the internship must be arranged and approved in advance in compliance with the Internship Application Process.

You can enroll in MI 493 for 1 to 7 credits per semester. You can get 1 credit for every 5 to 6 hours of work per week (given a 15 week semester, 1 credit equals 75-90 hours of work per semester).

The total number of MI 493 credits allowed during your degree program is 7. You may have no more than 12 credits from MI 493 (internship credits) and MI 490 (independent study credits) combined.

While it is possible to use all 7 credits on one internship, a more prudent and productive approach would be to distribute the available credits over the junior and senior years. Given the breadth of the industry, completing several internships during the last two years will significantly increase the scope of your experience and offer greater options for future employment.

Eligibility Requirements

You must be a Media and Information major and have:

• An overall GPA of at least 2.5. You must be in good academic standing and cannot be on academic probation.
• Achieved a junior level standing by the end of the semester preceding the internship.
• Completed at least two MI courses.

Application Process

1. Locate an internship opportunity.
2. Obtain a confirmation letter from your Internship Supervisor on company letterhead. Your supervisor should include:
   • Their contact information.
   • Duties you will be performing during your internship.
   • Duration (start and end dates of the internship)
   • Time commitment (in hours per week or total hours)
3. Fill out the Media and Information For-Credit Internship Application form by the deadline. Submitting an Internship Application does not guarantee approval.
4. Submit the Internship Application and confirmation letter to room 411 Communication Arts and Sciences building OR email everything to wensloff@msu.edu
5. If you do not meet any of the Eligibility Requirements, you must also submit a waiver form. Make sure when you write up your waiver that you describe why you think the eligibility requirement should be waived (not just so you can take the internship, but why you think that you will be a good intern and representative as an MSU and MI student at your internship).

Obtaining Waivers

Any deviation from the Internship Eligibility Requirements requires a waiver request form to be completed. The waiver should be submitted along with the Internship Application. Filling out a waiver request does not automatically mean the waiver will be granted.

Applications Review and Credit Enrollment

Your application must go through a few different steps/people. The following things happen after you turn in your application:

• The eligibility criteria is checked against the MSU Registrar's records.
• Your application is reviewed for completeness and accuracy.
• The internship is evaluated in terms of relevancy to your academic program and for quality experience.
• Your internship supervisor is contacted if there are any questions about the internship, including relevancy, tasks, time commitment, etc.

You will be emailed once a decision is made on your application. If you have been granted internship credit, an override will be processed for you and directions on how to enroll in the class will be included when you are emailed stating you have been approved for credit.

Work that does NOT qualify for MI 493 Internship Credit

You can receive credit for internships that are both paid and unpaid. However, not all work qualifies for internship credit, including:

• You can not get internship credit for: Work you did in the past
  All internships must go through the application process and must be approved in advance. No exceptions.
• You cannot get internship credit for: Part-time jobs
  For a part-time job to qualify for internship credit, the job must be in our discipline and you must work in areas or on projects that you have not worked prior to the semester you are taking the internship. If you are given a special project outside of your previous duties or given increased responsibility, then it may be possible to receive internship credit.
• You can not get internship credit for: Internships at a job/company with which you have previously received credit
  If you wish to get internship credit at a company you have previously received internship credit from, you must work in areas or on projects that you have not worked on before.

When applying for succeeding semesters of an ongoing internship, a new application is necessary each semester. Again, succeeding semesters at the same facility will require an increased level of responsibility and new experiences.

Completing Your For-Credit Internship

Once your for-credit internship has been approved and MI 493 is on your schedule, you must:

• Complete the required number of work hours for the number of credits you signed up for.
• At the middle and end of the semester, your internship supervisor will be contacted and asked to fill out a form that verifies you completed the required time commitment, recommend if you should pass or fail based on your performance, and other comments.

Internship Grading

Internship credits are graded as pass/fail.

To Pass:

You must complete the required number of work hours for the number of credits you signed up for.

Your supervisor must fill out and turn in the internship evaluation form. We will contact your supervisor, but in some cases, we may need you to help remind them. You must notify us if your supervisor changes throughout your internship. You are responsible for keeping us up-to-date on the current contact at your internship.

You May Fail If:

• You did not complete the required number of work hours.
• Your Internship Employer terminates your internship before it is over.
• You receive negative feedback from your supervisor. Remember: You are not only building your own reputation, but representing the department and university. You should be professional and take your responsibilities seriously.
• We are not able to get an evaluation from your employer.

If you have more questions, contact wensloff@msu.edu. If you have questions specifically about how MI 493: Internship fits into your academic program, please contact your advisor.

I don't meet one of the MI For-Credit Internship eligibility requirements. Can I still get credit for my internship?

Submit a MI For-Credit Internship Application form by the deadline and make sure to include a waiver form with your application that describes what eligibility requirement you need waived and why you think it should be waived. Submitting a MI For-Credit Internship Application and Waiver, does not automatically mean the waiver will be granted. However, all requests are considered and if you need only one of the eligibility requirements waived, there is a decent chance it will be approved. Of course, you are encouraged to take internships even if you don't quality for MSU MI Credit.

How many credits can I get for my internship?

You take MI 493: Internship to earn internship credit.

You can receive up to 1 credit for every 5-6 hours of work per week across a 15-week semester. If you will not be working the whole semester, then your credits will be calculated based on the total number of hours you will work at the internship during the semester. See the chart.

The total number of MI 493 credits allowed during your degree program is 7. It is suggested that you don't use all 7 in one semester because you may want to use them for additional internships in future semesters. You may have no more than 12 credits from MI 493 (internship credits) and MI 490 (independent study credits) combined.

Do I have to pay for MI 493 credits?

Yes, like any other course, you do have to pay for MI 493 credits when you enroll in them.

Am I required to register for internship credit hours?

MI 493 counts as a 400-level MI class. You should talk to your advisor if you have questions about academic degree requirements and how MI 493 fits into your schedule and overall plan.

Do I have to take my internship for credit?

We (MSU/MI) do not require you to take internship credit. 

Even if you don't take your internship for credit, we would love to hear where you interned and if you liked the internship. If you feel that you have an internship success story that you would like to share with other students, contact us. Any feedback that you have will be helpful to other students looking at internships, you can contact us at wensloff@msu.edu.

The employer has asked me to supply them with something from MSU saying that I will be getting credit. How do I get that?

It depends on what your employer needs, but we're happy to help provide you with what they need. This is a fairly common practice and we supply confirmation letters to employers often.

Some employers require a letter verifying that you will be earning internship credits. If you have been offered an internship with them and have completed the MI For-Credit Internship Application and enrolled in MI 493, then we can provide a letter for you.

We cannot provide you a letter verifying you are enrolled in internship credits until you have completed a MI For-Credit Internship Application, been approved, granted an override and enrolled in the course. However, we can do a pre-approval of your eligibility requirements and supply a letter stating you meet the requirements and that once they offer you the position and verify that with us by supplying a supervisor letter, you can enroll in the credits. This is typically what they are looking for.

I missed the application deadline, can I still apply for MI Internship Credit?

Unfortunately, we are unable to process applications after the deadline.