What's paramount is that every internship be an educational experience that gives students an opportunity to continue their professional development as communicators. This requires that an internship be a learning and growth experience, not just a further demonstration of things the student has previously done or already knows how to do.

• No matter how necessary or how helpful they may be, an intern's primary duties cannot involve repetitious performance of previously developed skills or consist primarily of routine clerical tasks and/or non-communication tasks.

• For this reason, students are rarely allowed to earn internship credit for continuing to work in jobs they have already been doing for more than a month or two. However, exceptions may be made if the student's employer agrees to give the student new communication-related duties that would make the internship a valid learning experience.

However, unless the prospective intern's assigned tasks are predominantly communication-related in nature and present an intellectual challenge and a true opportunity for learning, the work will not be accorded academic credit as an internship.

The supervisor must also be a suitable teacher.

Just as educational credentials are required for faculty who teach at the college level, the academic preparation and previous professional experience of internship work site supervisors is a factor in determining whether or not a particular work experience can be used for internship credit.

Given what is essentially a master/apprentice relationship between the site supervisor and the intern, it's essential that the site supervisor be able to serve as a combination instructor/manager/mentor. Therefore, the usual minimum requirements for a communication professional who wishes to be an intern work-site supervisor are:

• at least five years of full-time experience doing communication work and

• at least two years experience as a supervisor/manager working with and coaching entry level employees or interns.

• Ideally, a site supervisor would also hold at least a bachelor's degree in a communication-related field, although this isn't always necessary.

An exceptional manager, even a CEO, who is not a communication professional is not an acceptable work-site supervisor for a communication intern. Nor is someone who holds a graduate degree in communication but has had only minimal work experience.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Gaut Ragsdale
Communication Department chair & internship coordinator
134 Landrum Center
(859) 572-6136
ragsdale@nku.edu

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