Internship Policies and Procedures

Internship provides you with supervised practical experience, working in a professional setting outside the classroom. Students can earn CS internship credit(s) (S/U only) under CS 3900 (and/or CS 3901): Internship in Computer Science. Minimum of 3 credit hours of internship course(s) is required for B.S. in Computer Science and B.S. in Software Engineering degree programs. (It is encouraged for B.A. in CS degree programs.) Students may obtain up to 6 hours of credit for CS internship courses.

An internship is a structured experience, which must demonstrate educational value. To earn CS internship course credits, students must (1) apply for pre-approval of internship, (2)apply for CS internship course registration, (3) complete the internship(s), and (4) submit all required reports, and supervisor's evaluation and student's self-evaluations. (Note that students WILL NOT be able to register for CS internship courses by themselves—CS department will enroll students into the courses after internship course registration form is approved and processed.)

COMPUTER SCIENCE INTERNSHIP COURSES (S/U ONLY)

*These courses do not apply to minor in Computer Science

1. CS 3900 (3 credit hours) for full-time internships.

Students can keep full-time student status by registering for CS 3900        

2. CS 3901 (1-2 credit hours) for part-time internships.

BASIC PRINCIPLES AND REQUIREMENTS

1. Minimum of 3 credit hours of internship course(s) is required for B.S. in Computer Science and B.S. in Software Engineering degree programs. Typically, 1 internship course credit is given for every 120 internship work hours (i.e., 360 work hours is equivalent to 3 credit hours of CS internship).
2. Students may obtain up to 6 hours of credit for CS internship courses.
3. Students must be registered for CS 3900 (for full-time internship) or CS 3901 (for part-time internship) during their internships.
4. Registration of Co-op 050 course is prohibited for students applying for CS internship credits.
5. Internship experience must be related to the development of the students as a computer scientist or a software engineer. Normally, the internship work should involve the design and/or implementation of some type of programming systems, whether in an application area or in the area of system/software development. Work of a highly routine or automatic nature, such as data entry or operation, is not certified for the internship credit. (For instance, help desk type positions whose responsibilities include installing hardware/software or troubleshooting a PC will not be qualified for the internship credit.)

5.1 Computer Science (CS) internship should involve utilization and/or learning of CS knowledge. (Computer science spans the range from theory through programming to cutting-edge development of computing solutions. CS offers a foundation that permits graduates to adapt to new technologies and new ideas. The work of computer scientists falls into three categories: a) designing and building software; b) developing effective ways to solve computing problems; and c) devising new and better ways of using computers and addressing particular challenges in areas. Most computer science programs require some mathematical background. – From the Association of Computing Machinery.)

5.2 Software Engineering (SE) internship should involve utilization and/or learning of both the analytical and descriptive tools developed in computer science and software engineering. It should also involve the rigor that this discipline brings to the reliability and trustworthiness of the systems that software developers design and implement while working cohesively in a team environment. (Software Engineering spans the entire software lifecycle. The work of SE involve creating high-quality, reliable programs in a systematic, controlled, and efficient manner using formal methods for specification, evaluation, analysis and design, implementation, testing and maintenance. –From the Association of Computing Machinery.)

6. CS/SE internship experience is expected to be a paid experience and in a corporate environment. However, internal work positions (e.g., research assistant positions at BGSU) or offsite paid research experience (e.g., REU experience from other university) may qualify for CS/SE internship credits.
7. Generally, internship venue should be in the U.S.
8. Students are required to submit a report on internship experience and a self-evaluation. Students are also responsible for asking internship supervisor for student performance evaluation.
9. All aspects of the internship experience will be handled by the internship coordinator who will be the instructor of the course. Special internship cases will be handled case by case.        

PROCEDURES FOR INTERNSHIPS

1. Search: Students would typically start searching for an internship after completing their 2000-level CS courses requirements. Students are encouraged to best-utilize their resources when searching for an internship (e.g., participating various recruiting/networking events).
2. Pre-approval: When found, the internship must be pre-approved by the department internship coordinator if students want to apply for CS internship course credits. This pre-approval of internship should be done BEFORE accepting the internship position. To get the internship pre-approved, the following information must be emailed to CS internship coordinator:
   1. Student’s name, BGSU ID, BGSU email, and phone number;
   2. Name and address of internship company and contact person’s email and phone number;
   3. Detailed internship information-internship department, internship period, position description, and all responsibilities;

Pre-approval confirmation will be emailed to the student within a week. This email must be attached to the internship course registration form.

Course registration: When internship is pre-approved, students can accept the internship offer and apply for CS internship course registration. To apply for the course registration, students must complete and submit the internship registration form (available on CS website, under Forms) with the printed-copy of the pre approval confirmation email to the office of CS department (Hayes 221). The submission period begins two weeks prior to the first day of the semester and ends on the third day of the semester (typically, Wednesday of the 1st week of class). In case the internship is found after this period, the registration form and the printed-copy of the pre-approval confirmation email must be submitted within two weeks of the internship start date, but no later than two weeks before the semester ends.

Complete the internship: Students should complete the internship with their best effort. To earn the passing grade for the internship course, a final written report of internship and student’s self-evaluation and supervisor evaluation must be submitted to CS internship coordinator within the last week of the internship period, but no later than the last week of semester. The evaluation forms will be available on the Canvas page of the course.

FINAL WRITTEN REPORT AND EVALUATIONS

To receive credit for the internship, students must turn in a detailed written report of internship experience along with examples of work projects as well as the student’s self-evaluation and internship supervisor’s evaluation. The written report and evaluations are due within the last week of the internship period and no later than the last week of semester (i.e., before the final exam week) and must be emailed to the CS internship coordinator.

Your report should be factual, well organized, carefully written, thoroughly proofread, and it should follow these general guidelines:

• Spell check and grammar check the final report.
• Include a title page with your name, the name of the organization you interned with, the dates you worked, the name and title of your supervisor on job, and the date you are submitting the report.
• The body of your report should be at least four (4) pages long and include:
  1. A concise profile of the organization and its function in the community served or special publics with which it interacts. Describe briefly the organization’s policies and staff or departmental organization as these apply to your job.
  2. A description of your job, including detailed discussion of your duties, the tasks you completed, what you learned from the experience, the nature and quality of supervision you received. Be candid about problems encountered, if and how they were overcome. Highlight what you believe were your major learning outcomes.
  3. Internship Reflection: Use your journals to critically assess the extent to which the internship met your academic, professional, personal, and civic goals. Also include an objective assessment of the agency, organization, or company, and the internship supervisor.
  4. Samples of any work you contributed to the agency, organization, or
     company (this section could also include reports, software products, websites, photographs, lesson plans, memos, letters, etc.).

The student’s self-evaluation must be submitted along with the report. The supervisor evaluation must be emailed to CS internship coordinator from the supervisor's work email account.

APPEALS

A student may file an appeal for decisions made related to the internship requirements. To appeal, the student must send an email to the CS Undergraduate Committee (to committee chair, Dr. Rob Green, at greenr@bgsu.edu) within two weeks of denials of request (e.g., internship pre-approval, course registration, etc.). The appeal must state precisely and succinctly what the appeal is for and why the appeal should be approved. Attach any relevant supporting information/materials. The committee will review the information (if needed, request more supporting materials) and will decide on the appeals.

See/contact CS internship coordinator for more materials and application information. (Current CS internship coordinator: Dr. Yan Wu, at yanwu@bgsu.edu)