MBA Internship Approval

Appropriate professional opportunities can be found in virtually any type of professional environment: a small or large firm; a manufacturing or service company; a for-profit or nonprofit organization; a private, public, or government entity.  Professional work experience can be paid or volunteer; part-time or full-time; completed during school or during summer break. The work experience must fulfill the following criteria:

• The student must complete a minimum of 135 hours in a managed environment, in an office or location where the student directly reports to a supervisor, and is able to learn more about business via interaction and delegated responsibility.
• It must involve professional duties that allow the student leadership opportunities, the ability to use creativity to improve processes, professional interaction and the opportunity to contribute to the success of the organization.
• The student should be applying knowledge and skills learned in class to further company objectives in a learning environment.
• The student is required to complete assigned paperwork prior to completing the internship to apply for experience to be counted toward his/her major requirement.
• The student and employer are required to fill out an evaluation regarding the experience once the internship is complete or by finals week of the semester in which he/she is enrolled. Evaluation forms come via an electronic link to both the student and employer once the student has indicated completion of the required 135 hours.

Students are required to seek pre-approval of the work to be performed. To do so, the student must:

• Complete the Graduate Internship Approval Request Form.
• Provide a comprehensive job description that should reflect at least 70% professional experience, and no more than 30% manual labor and/or menial tasks.
• Compose three learning objectives that the student would like to achieve while completing the experience (instructions below).
• All of these documents should be submitted electronically with the Professional Experience Form.

In consultation with your supervisor, please identify three specific and measurable learning objectives, describing the project or task to be completed, how it will be accomplished, and how it will be evaluated. Please highlight leadership opportunities and special projects. These objectives should reflect work that you would include on your resume and be results-oriented and specific.