Saint Joseph's College of Maine
 

BA 404: BUSINESS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Fall 2005 4 Credits

Instructor: Tom Novak
Director of Career Services
1st floor St. Joe’s Hall
8:30-4:30 Monday-Friday
893-6636
893-6638 (fax)
tnovak@sjcme.edu

Course Summary
This course has been designed to provide you with the opportunity to gain valuable insight into actual business operations so that you may better correlate your academic experience with professional experience. Implementation is accomplished by permitting you to assume professional responsibilities with business or non-profit organizations. The faculty advisor carefully supervises such responsibilities. Prerequisites: Rising Junior or Senior status, 2.5 GPA and permission of the Department Chair.

Internship Course Overview:
An internship is a planned work experience in a field that is of interest to you and will provide a learning experience that will prepare you for your career. It is an opportunity to apply the knowledge you have gained in your studies to an occupation and employer that is appealing. You will also be able to acquire new skills that will be transferable to future employment. Most students who participate in an internship find that it is a rewarding experience and does help their career development.

Internship Objectives:
1. Skill Development: learning and improving specific skills (writing, speaking, research, computer, teamwork, etc.)
2. Broader Knowledge: understanding the workplace, operational procedures, and organizational structure
3. Career Awareness: specific career positions and occupations and the qualities and training required
4. Personal Development: values, confidence, assertiveness, and decision making

Student Requirements for Participation:
1. Junior or Senior with a minimum GPA of 2.5
2. Permission of Business Department Chair
3. Completed Internship Program Application
4. Resume

Course Content:

1. Complete at minimum 150 hours of internship work experience during the fall semester
2. Regularly keep in contact with the instructor.
3. Type a weekly journal that will include reflections of your internship experience for each week of the internship. Each weekly entry should be at least a ½ page but no more than 1 page and include the number of hours you worked that week. Some questions that you may want to think about when writing your journal entries include:

• What did you do this week?
• What were the best/worst things that occurred this past week?
• What compliments/criticisms did you receive this week?
• What are some of the pros/cons of working in this position?
• If you were the boss how would you go about doing something differently?
• What contributions to the organization have you made this week?
• Whatdid you learn this week?
The journal will be due at the conclusion of your internship experience.

4. Write three papers (minimum of 4 pages each) on the following topics:

a. What do I want to learn from my internship and how will it help me prepare for my career? What goals do I want to accomplish during my internship? How has my college education prepared me for this internship experience? How has the first two weeks of your internship gone?
The paper will be due 2 weeks into your internship experience.
b. Write about the organization you are working for. What type of industry are they in? Who are their competitors? What are their goals and objectives? What products and/or services do they provide? What do they do well? What don’t they do well? How does your position fit-in with other positions within the organization?
The paper will be due halfway into your internship experience.
c. An evaluation of your internship experience. What did you learn about yourself? What skills did you acquire? What did you learn about the business? What did you learn about the company’s customers? Did you accomplish your goals? How would you rate the overall experience?
The paper will be due at the conclusion of your internship experience.
Grading:
Job Performance Evaluation 20% (Internship supervisor will evaluate job performance)
Weekly Journal: 20%
Three Writing Assignments: 60% (20% for each paper)

Your evaluation, journal, and last paper must be submitted by December 13th
*** For each day a paper is submitted late you will be penalized one letter grade. Also, if you quit or are fired from your internship before completing the 150 hours you will receive an “F” for the class. ***