Internship Policies, FAQs, and Student Work Plan
On May 6, 2019, the Faculty Senate approved revisions to the University Internship Policies, Guidelines, and Forms for undergraduate and graduate students, effective for all internships for credit in Spring 2020, although the new policies/forms are available for Fall 2019 as well. The revisions were proposed to the Undergraduate Council (UGC) and Graduate Council (GC) in early April by an ad hoc Internship Council comprised of representatives from all UA colleges that offer internships. The UGC and GC endorsed the updates, which were first reviewed and approved by the UA Office of Risk Management and Office of General Counsel.
The Internship Policies, FAQs, and Work Plan (form) are posted on the Registrar's site under the heading, Academic Program Forms. The Internship FAQs respond to questions that you may have in response to the policy changes. The four forms that were previously used (i.e., Internship Application, Assumption of Risk & Release form, Supervisor's Internship Evaluation form, and Student's Internship Evaluation form) have been replaced by one form — the UA Internship Work Plan. The new documents are for department internship coordinators, instructors, and undergraduate and graduate students who are eligible to register for internship credit.
The Internship Policies/Guidelines and FAQs are available in PDF format, while the Internship Work Plan (form) is available as both a fillable PDF and a Word document so that colleges and departments may customize the plan as allowed per item 5 of the new policy. The first page of the UA Internship Policies/Guidelines includes the definition of an internship, its purpose, and guidelines for colleges and departments. The Internship Policies include the number of work hours for determining credit hours, the grading system for these house-numbered courses (i.e., 193, 193H, 293, 293H, 393, 393H, 493, 493H, 593, 693, 793), and the academic component of an internship experience, along with some policy additions noted below.
Summary of Internship Policy Changes
Clarity has been added on the latitude departments have in requiring internship hours in relation to units of credit in the "Consistent Awarding of Credit" policy.
The new Work Plan (form) and permitted customizations have been updated to reflect the guidance of UA Office of General Counsel and Risk Management, in addition to some academic best practices identified by the ad hoc Internship Council.
The policy related to paid internships has been updated to include both paid and unpaid internships as acceptable vehicles for assessing learning objectives worthy of academic credit, in light of recent legal precedents and federal guidelines on standards for unpaid internships.
The policy allows departments to determine their own criteria for granting internship credit for experiences with the student's current employer.
The policy requires departments to maintain and provide a file with details about the organization and location of their approved internships. This will enable the UA to meet internal and external reporting requirements, such as NC-SARA reporting related to field experiences outside of the state of Arizona.
The policy clarifies the processes required of international students with internships.
The policy clarifies the UA Risk Management processes required for credit experiences abroad by requiring students to register their travel and follow related insurance policies.
Questions about the Internship Policies and Work Plan may be addressed to Abra McAndrew, Assistant Vice President for Student Engagement/Career Development, 621-1196 or mcandrew@email.arizona.edu.