Bellingham Visual Journalism ConferenceInternships - Info for Intern Organizations
The journalism internship has become an
extension of the campus of
Students earn college credit for their
time just as if they were on campus, and the credit counts toward their
degree. Your establishment, in effect, serves as another classroom.
We have found many reasons why it is
mutually satisfactory to extend our campus into your organization. Your
cooperation gives our students an irreplaceable experience invaluable in
honing their skills and understanding, as well as developing professional
attitudes in those headed into your field. It also gives you a way to join in
maintaining professional training standards in journalism and public
relations, and previewing the next generation of journalism graduates. We
expect our interns to be fully involved and productive throughout their
internship with you.
The period of the internship will vary,
but usually will be six weeks of forty hours weekly, or an equivalent amount
of time extended over nine or ten weeks.
We need two letters from you. The first at
the beginning of the internship, which explains your understanding as to when
the work starts, how long it continues, hours to be worked, etc. This serves
to give the student and us official notification of what you expect. The
other letter comes at the conclusion of the internship. It tells us whether
the student has fulfilled the obligation and offers a professional appraisal
of performance. Please use the forms provided below.
Midway Intern Rating Sheet (PDF, Word)
Final Intern Rating Sheet (PDF, Word)
At least once during the period, a member
of our faculty will call on you to discuss the student's performance. In
addition, the student files written reports and samples of work each week.
We expect you to assign someone in your
organization to supervise the intern. Students who have been given a variety
of tasks to perform are the ones who have found the internship experience
most profitable, provided they have one person who is the supervisor, mentor,
etc., to guide them through the professional work and expectations of the
host organization.
If you need additional information, please
do not hesitate to contact the Journalism Department, MS 9161, Western
Washington University, Bellingham WA 98225-9161; phone: 360-650-3252; fax:
360-650-2848; e-mail: journalism@wwu.edu