Internships

Media Studies majors are strongly urged to complete at least one semester of internship work as part of their course of study. The internship may be used to fulfill the 3-credit requirement for production experience for the major. (This requirement may also be filled by taking a 3-credit course in production such as Newswriting, Cinematography, etc.).

Majors interested in doing an internship for course credit must submit an application to the Department Chair or the Director of Undergraduate Programs prior to beginning the internship. Internships presume adult responsibility for the work initiated by the student; all goals, assessments, and deadlines must be set and monitored by the student.

Media Studies maintains a list of internship opportunities (including contact information for internship sponsors and names of students who have completed internships with these sponsors).

Steps for Setting Up an Internship

  1. Application: Sponsor and student complete an Application for Internship. The application must be completed prior to the student undertaking the internship. The application will ask:
    • Company or Organization name and address
    • Supervision: name of supervisor, contact inrofmation, and role that supervisor will play with student
    • Goals: these should be realistic, they may be practical, professional, intellectual but they must be realizable. State specific goals for your internship: what do you expect to learn, how do you expect to learn it, and how will it allow you to learn something you cannot learn otherwise? How will you assess your goals? Establish criteria for a mid-term assessment and a final assessment. Be as specific as you can be.
    • Tasks: these may overlap with the goals, but it should be clear what kinds of tasks the intern should expect to perform on a regular basis. What are the expectations of the organization from you as an intern and how have these expectations been established and communicated to you? What final outcome will you produce for the internship? (In other words, what will you be doing for them?) What kind of report or project will you produce to reflect upon the critical success or failure of the internship?
    • Time Commitment: clear expectations of hours to be spent at the internship and beginning and end dates—these MUST be set in advance of the start of the internship
    • Contact Information: telephone numbers, email, address, and any other emergency and daily contact information.
  2. Approval: Only the Chair of Media Studies or the Director of Undergraduate Programs may approve the Application for the Internship. The application remains on file in the Media Studies office. No internship will be counted for credit unless it has been approved and is on file before the internship begins. Retrospective credit for internships will be granted only under exceptional circumstances.
  3. Mid-Term/Interim Report: At mid-semester (or halfway through the time commitment for a summer internship) the student must file a one-page (this can be as brief as a paragraph) report stating the progress of the internship. If there are serious issues or problems, they may be addressed in a meeting or conference between the student, Media Studies, and the sponsor.
  4. Evaluation: Every internship taken for credit requires evaluation and assessment by the student and the sponsor. Students can receive 3 credits of Pass/Fail for an internship. No letter grades will be assigned for internships. Credit cannot be assigned until evaluations are filed stating that the internship has been satisfactorily completed. Failure to file evaluations in a timely manner will result in the withholding of credit for the internship (as in completion of work for any course). Both of these forms must be turned in with your final paper.
    • Sponsor Evaluation: Did the student meet the goals set in the original agreement? How well did the student perform the expected tasks? Was she/he prompt and professional with regard to time commitments and other expectations? This form of the student's overall performance is required within two weeks of the student's final date of work.
    • Student Evaluation: How did the internship meet the goals and expectations of the student? Evaluate the internship. Would you recommend it to another student? If so, why? If not, what would you change about the agreement you set at the outset to make this a more useful experience?
  5. Final Paper: Students will write a 2-3 page paper on some aspect of the internship experience. This should be reflective, critical, and analytic in nature. Such a paper might address the experience of working to create a news story, establish client relations, deal with the financial or legal realities of a media environment, assess the design process of working in a group or team situation, address issues of audience and their effect on the shape of media communication, or any other aspect of the experience that allows for critical insight. This paper is due to the Director of Undergraduate Programs on the last day of classes for the semester in which the internship was completed. This paper, along with the two evaluation forms, are required before credit will be given for the internship.
  6. Registration for credit: Students need to register for MDST 3800 in either the spring or fall semester to receive credit for their internship.
  7. Add/Drop Deadlines: As in the case of any other College Course, no credit will be received for internships that are not completed. Students must observe add/drop deadlines for internships in exactly the same manner as for regular coursework.

What should students expect?

Internships are meant to provide students with a real-life, hands-on experience working in a media environment. They are meant to supplement academic knowledge with a day-to-day understanding of what happens in the ongoing production, distribution, or management of media. Internships should provide an opportunity to develop contacts for further work and to give a realistic sense of what kinds of career opportunities would make sense for future goals.

Internships should provide exposure and supervision. Students should be given identifiable tasks and as much as possible be drawn into the actual operations of the media business or institution.

Students should not expect to step into creative or management positions. They need to recognize how much “grunt” work is part of the daily grind of media production and operations.

Students should expect to learn enough about the business or institution to see if a there is a future career direction in that area.

Students will be responsible for writing up their experience in a way that communicates the values, benefits, and/or limitations of the internship. This is not meant to be an academic paper, but a report.

Students should always act in a responsible manner, show up on time, treat an internship as a job, and recognize that they represent the Deaprtment of Media Studies as well as themselves. Difficulties or misunderstandings should be dealt with in an adult manner. The Media Studies advisor is always available to assist in any situation that causes confusion. Students should not hesitate to contact the Media Studies office if they have questions.

What should sponsors provide and expect?

The most important contribution Sponsors make is to provide access to a real world media environment. The realities are often more amazing, but very different, from what students imagine. The experience is invaluable in giving students an opportunity to think about their future career goals and the skills they need to acquire to function as professionals in a media environment.

Sponsors are NOT expected to provide academic training, supervise papers or writing assignments given by Media Studies, or to do anything outside the normal day-to-day operations of their business or institution.

Sponsors should try as much as possible to provide a supportive learning environment recognizing that students come with willingness, intelligence, and good writing and research skills. They may not have strong production skills and may not have had the experience of a pressured work environment. The Media Studies office at UVa is happy to clarify any confusions about expectations.

Our students are our best resource. Your participation in this program provides an invaluable experience. We want it to work for everyone involved. Let us know if we can improve the internship program.

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