In order to receive credit for your internship, you're responsible for making sure that we've received three things by the applicable deadlines:
1. Your internship paper, turned in through the Catalyst Collect-It Drop Box, by the first day of final exams week for the quarter (which, in Summer Quarter, is the last day of B- or Full-Term classes); we will send you the link to the quarterly drop-box by e-mail during the last two weeks of the quarter;
2. Your own evaluation of the experience, submitted through the online Intern's Evaluation survey, by the first day of final exams week for the quarter;
3. Your sponsor or supervisor's Internship Performance Evaluation, by the last day of instruction for the quarter. We will send your sponsor a link to the online performance evaluation during the last two weeks of the quarter.
Internship Paper Guidelines:
In your internship paper, you should reflect on your internship experience and represent the sponsoring agency to the Department of English and to prospective interns. Writing the paper should start, therefore, with the recognition that what you write will become a public document. It will help future interns most if it is honest and thoughtful. The paper will be read and evaluated before it is placed in the internship notebooks. It will not be returned to you, so be sure to keep a copy.
Your paper should describe, analyze, and evaluate your experience. It should do more than merely describe what you did; it should show that you have thought carefully about your experience and are familiar with issues important in the field. The paper should include the following:
*A clear and coherent description of what the internship involves, how it is organized or supervised, and what the intern's role is within the organization. What were your responsibilities? How did you contribute to the organization's operations and goals? Did your role or responsibilities change during the quarter?
*An analysis of the agency's cultural, social, or political function -- and/or an analysis of issues related to your experience. The purpose here is to go beyond description to give depth and a broader perspective to your experience. What cultural, social, or political forces does the agency respond to? How effectively does it do so? Why these, and not others? In what ways, if any, have your studies in literature and/or writing prepared you for what was expected of you as an intern?
*An evaluation of your experience. Include an evaluation of yourself and of the program or agency in which you worked. What were your goals for this internship? Did you meet them? Was the internship entirely satisfying? What did you learn? Evaluate the internship as an educational experience.
In order to prepare for the task of writing the paper, you may want to keep a journal and/or read current articles related to the field in which you are working. You are also encouraged to submit, with your essay, samples of your work at the agency (articles, press releases, etc.).
Paper length: 3 - 6 pages. Length should vary according to the number of hours worked/credits earned and the complexity or level of responsibility of the internship. For example, a paper written by a student who worked as a public relations intern for KOMO TV for 20 hours/6 credits would produce a longer and more substantive paper than a student who worked as a writing tutor in the English Writing Center for only 3 hours/1 credit.
Deadline: Your paper is due on the first day of finals week for the quarter. If you do not (1) complete a satisfactory paper, (2) complete the Intern's Evaluation online survey, and (3) check in with your sponsor to make sure that we receive your internship sponsor's Performance Evaluation on time, you will not receive credit for your internship.
Click here to view or print the paper guidelines in PDF format.