Students in internship courses have the following reporting obligations. The quality, timeliness and completeness of this reporting, along with evaluation by the responsible person within the sponsoring organization, constitute the majority of the course grade. The grade for the course cannot be submitted until all of the following items have been completed.
1. Periodic Progress Reports
- The purpose of the periodic progress reports is for the student to reflect upon their learning experiences and accomplishments during specific periods of time throughout the course. It is also helps the internship coordinator monitor students’ progress and identify any potential problem area needing support.
- The student should keep copies of the progress reports to be used later in producing the Final Course Summary Report (see below).
- A minimum of five (5) periodic progress reports are required through the duration of the course. Email is the desired medium for sending the reports.
- Reports must be submitted spread out over the time span of the course, each covering approximately equal periods of time and FOR PERIODS OF TIME NO GREATER THAN ONE-FIFTH OF THE TERM. For example, if the semester is 15 weeks long, the reporting period would be approximately every three weeks. In a 10-week summer term, the reporting period would be about each two weeks.
- Reports must be submitted within no more than one week after the end of each reporting period.
- Multiple reports WILL NOT be accepted in ‘batch’ form (i.e. more than one submitted at one time). Reports that are submitted closer than one week of each other will NOT be counted together as separate reports (you will only be credited with one report.
- Progress reports may be informal, anywhere from one page or more in length, and must contain at least the following:
- Commentary in a diary or summary form of the learning experiences relating to the job during the reporting period
- The report heading and email subject line should identify the purpose and time period pertaining to the report.
- Sequential numbering of each report (e.g., #1, #2, #3, etc.) is also useful in the title and email subject line.
- The report should state the number of hours you have worked in the reporting period.
- The report may be either a MS-Word attachment or simple text embedded in the body of the email.
2. Final Course Summary Report
- The final course summary report is due before the end of the final exam period for the specific semester, but after the submission of the last progress report.
- Submission of the final course summary report is preferred by email. The report should be in a MS-Word format attachment.
- Length of the final summary report should be at least four to five pages in length.
- The organization of the report will focus on ‘categories’ the student identifies into which to classify and discuss all the kinds of learning opportunities that were experienced. These can cover a wide range of topics. There should be at least four to five such categories, all chosen by the student to best reflect the significance of the various kinds of learning gained from the work experiences. Just as an example, a CIS student once used these categories:” Lessons in Software”, “Lessons in Hardware and Networks”, “What I Learned From my Clients”, “What I Learned From My Co-workers”, “What I Learned From My Supervisors”, “Working in a Big Company”, “Problems I Overcame”, and “How I’ve Grown”.
- The Summary paper should begin with an “Introduction” and end with a “Conclusions” section. In the conclusions, everything should be pulled together and looked at in terms of how it ties back to the academic setting and how it can be carried forward into the student’s future career plans.
3. Final Employer (Sponsoring Organization) Evaluation of Work:
- The student should alert the appropriate supervisor in the sponsoring organization at the beginning of the course that their assistance will be needed in submitting the Internship Employer Evaluation form at the end of the course.
- The student should prompt the supervisor at least one week prior to the end of the course to remind them of the need to submit the form no later than the last day of final exams for that semester.
- The student should follow up with the supervisor or co-op coordinator to make certain the evaluation has been submitted.