Texas A & M University-Texarkana

JOUR 490 –Internship in Mass Communications

Course Syllabus, (Summer 2003)

Instructor:Dr. Serajul I. Bhuiyan
Office: Room 230 N
Office Hours: To be announced
Telephone:(903)-223-3169

e-mail:serajul.bhuiyan@tamut.edu or bhuian_58@hotmail.com

Course:Jour 490—Internship in Mass Communications 

Time:To be announced

Course web site: www.tamut.edu/~sbhuiyan

Catalog Description

The internship course in Mass Communications is a field-based course in which students have an opportunity to apply or demonstrate writing, editing, public relations, advertising, layout and design skills in a real world setting. They will be placed in local newspapers, Wire Services, Texarkana Chamber of Commerce and other industries doing reporting, writing press releases, copy editing and desktop publishing, public relations and advertising related jobs. Students also will have an opportunity to work in the offices of state, federal, and locally elected officials. Students will be engaged in meaningful tasks and assignments that contribute to their understanding of how media industries operate. Students will find their own placements. However, department of Mass Communications will help students networking with professional organizations.

Course Prerequisites: Students must be of junior or senior standing and complete a student application process. 

Student Application Process: Students must apply for an internship at least one semester prior to the semester they wish to enroll for the internship experience. An application form will be available in program director’s office. The process also includes letters of recommendation, and an interview process conducted by college faculty. A faculty member of student’s choice must agree to monitor him or her during the internship. Faculty supervisors may require regular written or oral reports or a project upon completion of the internship. The faculty member a student selects should have experience or interest in the area in which he/she will be working on.

Course Requirements: This is a three-credit course that requires students to work 135 hours. The best internships are completed in six weeks, working full-time. It must be completed in a maximum 12 weeks. All work must be done with an approved agency. Students may spend no more than 15 percent of the time on clerical or non-journalism duties.

Also required are reading assignments related to the work experience, a portfolio, and three evaluations by the campus mentor and the supervisor at the work site. A significant research paper may be required in lieu of some of the hours required at the internship site. 

• No more than 6 hours of internship credit will count toward degree requirements.
• Students may not do an internship provided by a relative or in a company owned by a parent or relative
• New companies or small businesses not known to the school must apply for internship consideration on company letterhead and must state business objectives and qualifications of persons proposed to supervise the intern. An internship may be served only from the site of a licensed business operating from a building in an area zoned for business/commercial purposes.
• Students may not do an internship in their place of present employment unless they are (1) formally transferred to another department which is separate from the department in which they are employed; (2) the department is under the direction of a different supervisor; and (3) the internship is directed by a person who is a professional in your field of study (advertising, journalism or public relations).
• Students may not interrupt an internship for a vacation or similar absence and may interrupt only for family emergency or similar serious consideration when such absence is approved in advance by a faculty internship supervisor.
• All internships taken during the semester, summer session or winter session must be completed within the calendar dates allocated to the learning period as published in the schedule of classes. If you have a question on this point you must ask your faculty internship supervisor and confirm with him/her the dates you propose.
• Students may not begin an internship before completing specified prerequisites, gaining signed approval from their major advisor, and having on file with the school an approved contract with the host agency.
• Students may not count hours worked before enrolling in the internship unless arrangements are approved in advance by the faculty internship supervisor. There will be no exceptions. 

The internship requirements may be waived at the discretion of the department for comparable professional experience obtained prior to completion of the eligibility requirements for enrollment in the course. Students who intern without formal enrollment in the course will not be permitted to register in a subsequent semester for retroactive credit nor to petition for a waiver of the course.

Grades

Student’s workplace supervisor fills out an evaluation form at the end of the internship with a recommended grade and mails it directly to the faculty supervisor. Faculty supervisor then determines student’s grade using the workplace evaluation and any reports or projects he or she has completed. The grading scale will be as follows:

 

A	90-100
B	80-89
C	70-79
D	60-69
F	Less than 60