Hosting an Intern

The Geography Department at CU Boulder offers undergraduate students the opportunity to apply and further develop their skills and knowledge through internships that contribute to the host organization’s goals and mission. Interns receive academic credit towards a major or minor in Geography through the program. To earn credit, interns must complete 144 hours of work during the Fall, Spring, or Summer semester. Typically, this means that interns will work 8-10 hours per week over the course of a 15-week semester. The Fall Semester runs from mid-August to early December, the Spring Semester runs from early January to late April, and the Summer Semester runs from May to August. Exact dates are posted on CU’s academic calendar. Interns receive academic credit for their hours, and internship hours can be paid or unpaid.

Geography majors and minors bring a wide range of skills that reflect the breadth of the discipline. CU Geography allows students to pursue concentrations in the following sub-fields: Spatial Science, Environment-Society relations, Human Geography and Physical Geography. Depending on student interests and concentration, interns can contribute skills that range from GIS and cartography, to field work in physical geography, and qualitative research skills that can be applied to topics as diverse as international development, climate change, food and agriculture, resource management, urban planning, GIS, and remote sensing. 

If you are interested in advertising your agency or organization to our students as a potential internship site, please submit a Host Interest Form. In keeping with the program’s academic focus, internships should emphasize application of academic skills, professional development, and mentorship. In order to provide a successful internship site for an Intern, please consider the following:

1. Does your agency have needs for a specific project or skill set relevant to a Geography intern?
2. Does your agency have a person who could serve as an Intern Supervisor? 
3. Are you open to developing a plan of goals and expectations that would complement both the Intern and the agency?

If so, we would welcome the opportunity to partner with your organization!

Evaluation

Towards the end of the semester, the Geography Department will contact hosts to request evaluation of student performance. Host evaluations are a critical source of feedback for interns and the Department, and are used in awarding credit hours.