Students

Eligibility

• A major or minor in one of the Bachelor of Science programs of School of Management. The programs are Management, Marketing, Accounting, Computer Information Systems, and Finance.
• Good academic standing, determined by Department chair or Internship coordinator.  
• Junior or senior standing, or a minimum of 60 credits.

Internship courses

Internship courses are three credit elective courses for Accounting, CIS, and Finance majors where upon completion an (satisfactory/unsatisfactory) grade will be awarded.
Internship courses for Management and Marketing students can be accepted as one of the restricted elective courses within their program of study, where upon completion a letter grade will be awarded. This can be done only for one 3 credit restricted elective course.
A maximum of nine credits can be granted for a single or multiple internships as elective credits. Single internships with more than 3 credits and their requirements shall be approved by department chairs.

• MGT 467 (3cr) : For General Management, International Management, Operations Management and Human Resource Management majors.
• MKT 467 (3cr); For Marketing majors.
• ACCT 467 (3cr): For Accounting majors.
• CIS 467 (3cr); For Computer Information System majors.
• FIN 467 (3cr): For Finance majors.
• HCA 467 (3cr): For Health Care Administration.

Steps to follow:

1. Complete an Application Form and forward to Coordinator of Internships.

2. Attend an information session.
Information sessions will be offered every semester. The schedule will be posted in Alger Hall and online.  If an information session was not scheduled, meet with the coordinator of internships.

3. Search for an internship

• Internship opportunities available through the School of Management (SOM) Current Internship Opportunities page.
• Contact person is Dr. Natalie Sahba, Faculty of Management and Coordinator of Internships, 401-456-9648.
• Internship and other career opportunities available through the Career Development Center at RIC. Click on “Destinations”.
• Internship opportunities are also posted in the Bulletin Board next to student lounge in Alger Hall.
• You can also search on your own (personal contacts and friends).
• Search the Internet for internship opportunities in RI/MA/CT.

4. Apply / Interview.
If accepted meet with the coordinator of the Internship program to seek approval of your job description.

5. Register for the course.

Course Requirements

• An internship experience where the student performs discipline-specific tasks that build on knowledge acquired at school
• 120 hours of work at the professional organization where the intern is placed.
• Attending on a campus class meetings every two weeks, to discuss variety of workplace related topics.
• Provide feedback to the class based on faculty's requirements.
• Make a PowerPoint presentation to class about your internship based on faculty requirement.

General Information

• Internship courses are offered every Fall, Spring and Summer.
• The summer internship course begins at the beginning of SSI and ends at the end of SSII.
• The grading system is "Satisfactory" and "Unsatisfactory" for elective credit internships, and letter grade for restricted elective credit internships.
• Internship credits are elective credits for all majors except Management and Marketing  majors where the 3 internship credits can satisfy 3 credits in the concentration area. Nine credits can be granted for a single or multiple internship as elective credits.

For Management and Marketing students who may use their internship course as a restricted elective course in addition to above, students shall Write a field research paper that applies knowledge in the student’s major/concentration. There are two options for the field research paper: an activity-based analysis or a topic-based analysis.

a. Activity-based field research

1. Select an activity the student is performing as part of their internship responsibilities
   
2. Describe in detail what the activity is, its purpose, how it is done, and its connection to the organization’s mission and goals
   
3. Critically analyze the practice in light of research, theory, and practice in the student’s field of study, showing how the practice relates to the field and identifying strengths and weaknesses of the organization’s approach
   
4. Make and support one theory/practice/research based recommendation as to how the organization can improve the effectiveness/efficiency of the activity. The recommendation should include the following elements:
   
   • Recommended action – a clear description of what the organization should do.
   • Implementation process – a detailed description of how the organization can implement the recommended action.
   • Support – a detailed, well-reasoned, compelling statement of theories/concepts/research that have been applied, how the recommendation applies them, and why the recommendation will work.
   • Potential risks of and obstacles to implementation and how they can be overcome – a detailed description of the issues or problems that may arise that pose risks and/or make it difficult to implement your recommendation (e.g., resources needed, management opposition, etc.) and how they can be overcome or prevented.
   • Potential benefits – a detailed, well-reasoned, compelling statement of the benefits the organization will experienceand why the organization should implement the recommendation.

b. Topic-based field research

1. Select a topic  the student has explored in one of the courses in their major/concentration that is relevant to the activities within the organization they are interning with.
2. Write a statement defining the topic and, a brief review of the literature on that topic (this may be text-book based or come from other sources).
3. Describe in detail how this topic is practiced within organization you are interning with.  Contrast your theoretical research with the actual practice within organization, and identify how the existing practices and performance within organization supports or conflicts with your theoretical research.
4. Make and support recommendation(s) that can improve the organization’s practices and performance.  The recommendations should include the following elements:
   • Recommended action – a clear description of what the organization should do.
   • Implementation process – a detailed description of how the organization can implement the recommended action.
   • Support – a detailed, well-reasoned, compelling statement of theories/concepts/research that have been applied, how the recommendation applies them, and why the recommendation will work.
   • Potential risks of and obstacles to implementation and how they can be overcome – a detailed description of the issues or problems that may arise that pose risks and/or make it difficult to implement your recommendation (e.g., resources needed, management opposition, etc.) and how they can be overcome or prevented.
   • Potential benefits – a detailed, well-reasoned, compelling statement of the benefits the organization will experienceand why the organization should implement the recommendation.

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