INTERNSHIPS

DEPARTMENT POLICY ON INTERNSHIPS

Internships or education-in-the-field credits will not be counted toward the five upper level courses required to meet the Government major requirements. However, they can be counted as one of the three remaining credits, subject to the following requirements:

1.	Students have completed an introductory government course and three upper-level government courses at Wesleyan prior to the beginning of the internship,
2.	The student has received pre-approval.
3.	The Government Department will not approve summer internships or internships in programs abroad for Wesleyan graduation or department major credit.
4.	For a half-time, one-semester internship, during the academic year, one credit (on a pass/fail basis) is given.
5.	For a full-time, one-semester internship, during the academic year, one credit (on a pass/fail basis) is given, with an additional credit allowed (on a letter-grade basis) upon completion of a list of readings and a research paper assigned by a faculty supervisor in the department.

GUIDELINES FOR INTERNSHIPS

I. General Guidelines for Internship Programs.

A. A member of the Government Department faculty must agree to sponsor and supervise the internship

B. The sponsoring organization must have carefully planned and developed the internship positions or should have had considerable experience with employment of interns to the extent that we are reasonably confident that the internship will be a meaningful educational experience for the student.

C. Someone from the sponsoring organization must be designated to supervise the intern on the job and to report to the Wesleyan faculty adviser on progress and on satisfactory completion of the internship.

D. All course credits for internships are recorded as "education in the field" credit. Tutorials should not be used for this purpose. Approval of off-campus programs on an individual basis by the department does not necessarily imply university sponsorship of such programs. Forms for education in the field are available from the Dean’s office. Students enrolled only in education in the field will pay a per-credit tuition charge equal to one-tenth of the prevailing tuition rate for the semester.

II. State Legislative Internships. Students may participate in the Connecticut legislative internship program. The New York State legislative internship program, which is also run by a special legislative committee that works with the political science faculty at SUNY-Albany, is for New York residents only, but it is available to those Wesleyan students from New York who would like to participate in it. Credit for legislative internships in other states is contingent on prior investigation by the department to determine the quality of the program and the availability of a Wesleyan faculty member to monitor the program.

III. Congressional Internships. Full-time congressional internships during the academic year that are arranged by the student are given course credit according to the criteria set forth above.

IV. Internships in Local Government. On occasion, the Department sponsors internships with local governments in the Middletown area.

V. Other Internships. Political party internships and those with candidate campaign organizations are approved if they meet the criteria set forth above. The same would be true for other internships with state, local, and federal administrative agencies. However, Wesleyan credit will not be given for internships with interest groups or other private agencies, including law firms.