INTERNSHIPS

General Information

Students are strongly encouraged to participate in the UAH Internship program. An internship is a one-time project-oriented opportunity to enhance your educational experience by allowing you to apply classroom knowledge in a professional environment. An internship will allow you to explore specific careers, develop new skills, enhance current strengths, gain career related experience, increase your marketability.

The Internship opportunities available are short-term apprenticeship or temporary jobs (120 hours of on-site experience to earn 3 credit hours) in a real-world setting closely related to a student's field of study. The student may or may not be paid but earns college credit for the work experience.

Here you will find information you need to apply, including qualifications and procedures, and a listing with available internships with deadlines, contact information, and website of the sponsor.

If you have any questions or need additional information contact the Faculty Coordinator of Internships:

Tom Kallam
Business Administration Building Room 361
Phone: 256-824-2947
Fax: 256-824-6328
Email: businessinterns@uah.edu

Qualifications

1.  Undergraduate Prerequisite
   • Junior standing, six semester hours beyond principles course(s) in the discipline
   • A minimum GPA of 2.75 in all UAH business courses attempted in the college
   • An overall GPA of 2.75, completion of at least 15 hours at UAHuntsville
   • Approval of the Director of Advisement
   • Approval of the Department Chair
2. Graduate Prerequisite
   • Completion of nine semester hours at UAH
   • Approval of the Graduate Program Director

Additional Guidelines

1. No more than three hours of internship may be used in the 21 hour undergraduate major. However, students may take a second internship for up to an additional three semester hours with a different organization but these hours may not be counted in the major.
2. Cooperative education does not qualify as an internship. However, in exceptional cases, a student may be allowed to do an internship at a “co-op” organization during the semester the student is registered for coursework. The student must meet all the requirements for the internship.
3. An internship may be paid or unpaid.
4. When a potential internship opportunity is identified, the college’s Faculty Coordinator of Internships asks the site supervisor to provide a task description requiring 120 hours of effort (for three semester hours credit) over a semester or summer term period.

Procedures

1. Prospective students obtain the Internship Application form from either the college website http://cba.uah.edu/internships.html or the Office of Academic Assistance.
2. Students submit their application to the Director of Advisement or the Graduate Programs Director for review of qualification requirements.
3. Approved applications are returned to the student for submission to the college’s Faculty Coordinator of Internships with a copy of his/her resume.
4. The Faculty Coordinator of Internships obtains approval of the Department Chair. If the Department Chair does not recommend the internship, the Department Chair will counsel the student and discuss the reasons for the decline.
5. The Faculty Coordinator of Internships submits one or more resumes to the internship site supervisor who then selects one or more students to interview. The student interviews with the site supervisor and the site supervisor selects the intern and notifies the Faculty Coordinator of Internships.
6. The student registers for the internship course and begins work on the project under the site supervisor identified in the organization’s task description.
7. The Faculty Coordinator of Internships monitors the progress of the student during the semester.
8. Prior to the final examination week, the site supervisor communicates with the Faculty Coordinator of Internships evaluating the student’s work regarding quality, attendance, ability to adapt to changes, ability to work with others, and any other evaluative features of the work. See attached copy of evaluation instrument.
9. At the end of the semester, the college’s Faculty Coordinator of Internships will issue a grade of satisfactory (S) or unsatisfactory (U). The grade of “S” or “U” cannot be calculated in the GPA of the major.

List of Internships