Regional Planning Internship FAQ

Planning internships can emphasize a variety of themes and projects, such as inventories of traffic or sewer infrastructure, management of parcel data, park or open space preservation, neighborhood revitalization, or soil and water conservation. Typically, interns will spend portions of their time working in an office, collecting street or site observations, and attending hearings and meetings. Many internships utilize GIS skills, but others are less technical in nature.

The departmental internship coordinator has a number of internship contacts and sites gleaned from faculty connections, position announcements received by the department, and previous student internship experiences. Employer solicitations are normally posted on the bulletin board in Leonard Hall. However, many students discover opportunities on their own initiative, in some cases by contacting planning offices or other employers in their hometowns. When approaching a potential site, students should have a clear idea of what types of experiences they wish to gain from the internship along with a concise resume of their qualifications.

In order to proceed, a documented offer from the employer is needed to help ensure that expectations are consistent for all parties, and that they are adhered to. This may be addressed to the student or the departmental internship coordinator, on letterhead or in electronic format. This correspondence should identify the duties of the intern, the length of employment, and the rate of pay (if any). The offer will be attached to the Internship Approval Form and submitted to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences for approval by the dean. Once approved, a student will be permitted to register. Students may begin working only after approval from the dean.

The number of credit hours for which a student registers is dependent on 1) the number of work hours the internship is expected to provide and 2) the academic needs of the student. Internship registration is in three-hour increments (up to a maximum of 12), and a minimum of 40 work hours is required to fulfill one credit hour. For example, a student must complete at least 120 work hours if three hours of internship credit were registered. Students must pay for internship credit hours just as in a regular course.

The internship grade will be based on the Post-Internship Evaluation Form completed by the workplace supervisor (50 percent), and a daily log (25 percent) and final report (25 percent) submitted to the departmental internship coordinator. Internship reports follow different formats depending upon the nature of the work completed, and are developed in consultation with the departmental internship coordinator. Students should attempt to document their activities as much as possible during the experience, to facilitate assembly of the final report.