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How do I register for an internship?
Internship registration must be approved by the faculty coordinator.
Unlike a classroom-based course in which all students receive the same body of knowledge and participate in the same exercises or activities, internships are highly personalized and tailored to the needs and interests of the individual student. This begins with registering for the course. Instead of self-registering via Norse Express, students wishing to do an internship must to go through an application process and be approved by the faculty internship coordinator.
The internship registration process begins with the student filling out a simple one-page form entitled Request to register for a communication internship. Copies are available on the internship bulletin board in the Communication Department office or directly from Dr. Ragsdale in Landrum 134.
The form asks about your current academic status, the major courses you've taken in preparation for an internship, the type of work you want to do as an internship, and any preferences you have for specific organizations with whom you'd like to intern. Once it's completed, it should be submitted to Dr. Ragsdale, the communication internship coordinator, for review and approval.
The first thing that's checked is whether you meet the minimum prerequisites listed in the university catalog for internships within your major.
The next check is to see if you've completed appropriate and sufficient coursework in your major to do the specific type of internship you want to do.
- For instance, JOU 230 Newswriting II is not a prerequisite for all journalism interns, but it is required for anyone who wants to do an internship that involves reporting and writing news.
- Similarly, not all radio/tv majors are required to take RTV 309 Broadcast Promotion, but those who want to do an internship in a radio station promotion department are required to take it before doing an internship.
- Nor are all speech majors required to take SPE 440 Communication Training and Development, but someone whose proposed internship involved doing training or orientation sessions for a human resources department would not be allowed to do such an internship without it.
- And, regardless of their major, students are not normally approved for an internship involving public relations unless they've successfully completed PRE 375 Principles of Public Relations or a comparable course.
Students who meet the minimum prerequisites and appear to have appropriate preparation for the type of internship they want to do, will be immediately approved and registered for the appropriate internship course. Those whose request forms have incomplete information or who appear to lack sufficient preparation for their desired internship will be contacted for further information and/or a meeting with Dr. Ragsdale to try to work things out.
Note that being allowed to register for an internship doesn't guarantee that the specific work site the student selects or the duties established by the site supervisor will be approved for credit. That doesn't happen until an Internship Agreement Form has been completed by the student and the internship work site supervisor and submitted to the faculty coordinator.
What kind of work do I have to do?
What's involved besides the work?
Who's the faculty coordinator for internships?
Communication Internship home page
For
more information, contact:
Dr. Gaut Ragsdale
Communication Department chair & internship coordinator
134 Landrum Center
(859) 572-6136
ragsdale@nku.edu
phone 859-572-5435 / fax 859-572-6187