The following information provides information about internship and co-op eligibility, site responsibilities, registration procedures, and conflict resolution procedures.
Eligibility and Criteria
- Academic Standing. A student must have a junior, senior, or graduate student standing to enroll in an internship/Co-op. Transfer and graduate students must complete one academic semester in major/program at SUNY Oswego. International students must refer to CPT requirement guidelines through the office of International Student and Scholar Services.
- Grade Point Average. A 2.5 cumulative grade point average is required for an undergraduate student to enroll in an internship/Co-op; 3.0 is required for graduate students. Some department standards are different and are outlined in the catalog.
- Departmental Rules and Course Overload. Satisfaction of all departmental prerequisites as reflected in the College Catalog or written academic advisor approval to deviate from published prerequisites is required prior to enrollment in an internship/Co-op. If internship credit creates a course overload situation, a student must obtain online approval from his or her academic advisor before the internship can be pursued.
- Credit Limits. No more than one internship/Co-op may be pursued for credit in a single semester/term (fall, spring, summer or winter), and all internship/Co-op work must be completed during the semester/term of enrollment. The maximum number of internship credits that may be applied to a SUNY Oswego degree is 15, and the maximum number of credits that may be earned in a single internship are 12 (fall, spring, summer) or 3 (winter session). Credit cap options may vary for departmental credit. The maximum number of Co-op's applied to a SUNY Oswego degree is 2.
- Departmental or Elective Credit. Students may enroll in internships through their home department (with departmental approval) or as an elective through GST 498 (upper division undergraduate students) or GST 691 (graduate students). Undergraduate Co-ops are registered as an upper division elective, GST 498C. Graduate Co-ops are registered as GST 598C.
- Credit Eligibility and Grading. Up to one credit may be granted for every forty hours of work performed at an internship site. For example, to earn 3 credits for an internship, a student must complete 120 hours of approved service at the internship site during the semester/term of enrollment (see chart below). Co-ops are “0” credit. A student maintains full-time status while on Co-op. Further, while an internship/Co-op involves placement at a host site, the academic measure of the experience is the college-level learning that arises from the student’s contributions to the host site. Consequently, students are required to complete faculty-directed academic assignments throughout the period of the internship to demonstrate the learning achieved. Internships are graded by the Faculty Sponsor as follows: H (Honors), S (Satisfactory) or U (Unsatisfactory). These grades are not calculated into a student’s cumulative grade point average. Some departments may have different grading modes. Students must fulfill all requirements of the internship/co-op in order to receive a passing grade. Co-ops are also graded H (Honors), S (Satisfactory) or U (Unsatisfactory). An internship must be successfully completed along with all other requirements in order to receive credit.
- Timing and Duration of Internship/Co-op. Internships must span the entire semester of fall and spring registration. Due to the differential nature of winter and summer internships, all experiences will be evaluated by the Experiential Learning Office based on a combination of internship length, quality of experience, and legitimacy of mentorship. Co-ops must span a minimum of 12 weeks over the summer, 15 weeks over the fall or spring to a maximum of 26 weeks either from summer/fall or spring/ summer.
- Hour Accrual Eligibility. The tracking of hours accumulated towards the internship/co-op is the responsibility of the student (see #14). Hours accrued through the completion of academic assignments from your Faculty Sponsor, commute to/from your site, and breaks/meals are not eligible to count towards your Internship/Co-op hours.
- Prior Felony Convictions Policy. All students must complete a Prior Felony Convictions Questionnaire per the Prior Felony Convictions Policy prior to being approved to complete an internship. This process may take several weeks if a committee review of a conviction needs to be completed.
Site Requirements
- Compensation and Credit. Internships may be unpaid or paid. Co-ops must always be full-time and paid.
- Fair labor laws. All internships must meet the Fair Labor Standards.
- For-profit businesses
- Not-for-profit businesses
- Fair Labor Standards Act
- Site Verification Approval.
- Internship/Co-op sites must be registered with and approved in advance by the Internship Coordinator of Experiential Learning.
- Internship/Co-op positions may occur only with established companies or organizations.
- A student may not change internship/co-op sites during the semester/term of enrollment.
- Students looking to complete an additional internship at the same site (not within the same term) must have this approved by
- Experiential Learning as the position must be different with new roles and responsibilities.
- Students interested in earning internship credit at a current place of employment/site are required to work with their site and
- Experiential Learning to determine new learning roles and objectives that are different from current responsibilities.
- Unpaid internships are primarily learning experiences for the educational benefit of the student and not employment experiences for the benefit of the host site.
- Site Supervision. Student-led clubs or groups and student-owned companies will not be approved as internship/Co-op sites. A student’s internship/Co-op may not be self-supervised or supervised by another student or by a family member of the student. Any supervisory line involving a family member will be deemed inappropriate (including family-owned businesses).
- Timesheets. Records of hours are a requirement for all internships/Co-ops and are necessary to receive a grade. Students will need to submit an electronic Internship/Co-op Timesheet on a monthly basis. Once the timesheet is submitted it will automatically be emailed to the student’s site supervisor for approval of the hours (see #8 for information on hour accrual information). All timesheets should account for legally required breaks and a maximum of 40 hours per week may be included towards credited hours. Hours must be earned within the semester/session start and end dates.
- Virtual Internships. In appropriate circumstances, a virtual internship/Co-op may be possible. In a virtual internship/Co-op, a student completes assignments remotely for a host site and interacts with the Site Supervisor through electronic means.
Registration Process
- Faculty Sponsor. Students work with both a college Faculty Sponsor and the supervisor at the site. The Faculty Sponsor and Site Supervisor have two distinctly separate sets of responsibilities, and therefore, one person MAY NOT assume both roles. The Faculty Sponsor is responsible for evaluating the academic component of the internship/Co-op and assigning the final grade.
- Registration. A student should “request an experience” and complete their learning agreement the semester before they want to complete the internship so they can be registered during advanced registration. A student should not begin hours at the site until the student is fully registered and the semester/session has begun, based on course registration dates. A Learning Agreement must be completed and approved by all parties by the end of the add/drop period of the semester/term. If a student has an additional (not within the same term) internship or co-op experience at the same site, the site and student must complete the complete process again for registration and the experience must indicate new responsibilities and learning objectives on the learning agreement.
- Deadlines. Published academic deadlines apply to internship and co-op enrollment, and advance planning with the host site and the faculty sponsor is essential. All deadlines are kept up to date on www.oswego.edu/internships.
- Tuition. If a student enrolls in an internship during the fall or spring semesters, internship credit is included in the student’s full-time tuition. If a student enrolls in an internship during the summer session or winter session, tuition is billed by the credit hour like any other academic course (https://www.oswego.edu/student-accounts/summerwinter-costs). There is no tuition charge for a Co-op.
- Special Populations:
- Prerequisite Deviations: are at the discretion of the academic advisor and department chair. If a prerequisite is waived, an online prerequisite deviation form must be completed and submitted to the Registrar's Office
- Course Overloads: If a course overload is needed for the semester/term you must have your academic advisor fill out an online Course Overload Form
- International students: need to discuss F1 or J1 Visa requirements with their International Education advisor before applying for an internship/co-op. (Please contact [email protected] with questions/concerns). An International Education internship/Co-op acknowledgement form will need to be filled out prior to "requesting an experience"
- Graduate students: can earn academic credit by registering for GST 691, this course is available for 2-6 credits. Graduate students must have a 3.0 GPA and be enrolled in a graduate degree program at SUNY Oswego. They can also complete a co-op by registering for GST 598C. See departmental specific information for other graduate internship courses.
- Walt Disney World College Program students: Please contact [email protected].
- Prerequisite Deviations: are at the discretion of the academic advisor and department chair. If a prerequisite is waived, an online prerequisite deviation form must be completed and submitted to the Registrar's Office
Academic Integrity, Site Issues, and Code of Conduct
- Academic Integrity Issues. Students who are found to have violations of the Oswego Academic Integrity Policy as outlined in the catalog may be removed from their internship site depending on the disposition and individual circumstances of the claim.
- Code of Conduct. The university expects students to be responsible, ethical and professional in all work environments consistent with guidelines as expressed in the Code of Conduct, including adherence to federal, state and local laws and the policies of the field placement site. Students who engage in experiential placements, both on and off-campus, such as internships, co-ops, practica, community service, service-learning are participating in university sponsored programs and thus, are subject to the Code of Conduct.
- Site Issues. If issues arise at an internship or co-op site, please review the Site Conflict Resolution Procedures and contact Tina Phillips, Associate Director.