Getting Credit for an Internship

If you do not report your internship online before starting work, you will not receive credit! Report internships online, and see the steps below for reporting an internship for credit.

Step 1: Supervision Step 2: Report Online for Credit Step 3: Approve Requirements Step 4: Evaluations and Follow-Up
Step 1: Supervision

After securing your internship, find a faculty supervisor (any full-time professor in your major) and request faculty supervision of your internship via email or in person. See a list of CMCI faculty (filtered by department).

Note: COMM students, contact Christy Maurer. This is for COMM students only, not Strategic Communication or APRD students!

List that professor as your faculty supervisor on your online internship report on Handshake.

Log into Handshake using your IdentiKey. For screenshots of this process, check out Handshake’s guide. Make sure to fill out the educational objectives and an Internship Learning Plan (IPL) contract online.

  • From the tabs across the top, select the "Career Center" tab.
  • Select the Experiences option, then select "Request an Experience".
  • Fill out the Experience form with the details of your position.
  • Once you have entered all the information, select the green "Create Experience" button at the bottom of the page.
  • The next Overview page will allow you to:
    • View the details of your experience.
    • Review your supervisor information and communicate with the career center in the “Comments and Activity” section.
    • Add "Learning Objectives" to measure the effectiveness of your experience and collaborate with your supervisor/faculty advisor on your goals.
    • View or add attachments to the experience under the "Attachments" section on the left side of the screen.
  • Make sure to check in on the "Details" section to see if your experience has been approved.
  • Once your experience is approved, you can stay connected to the Internships Office by communicating in the comments section and view evaluations from your supervisor and advisor.

Note: Your faculty supervisor, internship employer, and the director of academic advising will be automatically prompted via email to confirm your internship and register you for credit. You do not need to send these emails.*

You will be prompted via email to approve your faculty supervisor's requirements and your employer's internship expectations. You must agree to your faculty supervisor's and employer's requirements via email in order to receive credit. Your faculty supervisor will communicate additional academic assignments/requirements to you, via email or in person. Be proactive – you can also ask your professor about these!

The director of advising will be prompted via email to confirm you are registered for credit. You will receive an email confirmation once you are registered for credit.
Note: For summer internship credit, you will receive a bill from Continuing Education and must pay the bill in order to receive credit.*

Even though your internship employer evaluates you and recommends a grade, your faculty supervisor determines your final internship grade and/or pass/fail designation – (if internship credit is required in your major, you will earn a letter grade. If internship credit is not required, you will earn a pass or fail). Be sure to stay in contact with your professor!

Your internship employer will be prompted via email to complete midterm and final evaluations of your performance, and your faculty supervisor will be able to view these evaluations.

You will evaluate or "rate" your own internship at the end of the semester using the online Internship Evaluation form. You will be prompted via email to fill out this form. Thank you for your participation!

View frequently asked questions about CMCI’s internship for credit process.

Student questions about CMCI’s internship for credit process—deadlines, reporting your internship for credit, how many credits you can receive, the timing of internships, what is needed to receive academic credit for a CMCI internship and more—should be directed to Brandi Bradshaw-Reyes. Brandi has appointments available for students who need assistance or have questions related to this process. Schedule time with her using Buff Portal Advising: select the Career Services icon on the left side of the screen, then choose CMCI from the drop-down menu.