BIO491 Internship Requirements

The following are the requirements that must be accomplished during your internship. This sheet must be signed by the student and attached to the Contract for Academic Internship available from the Registrar's office.

Internship Philosophy: An internship is a time for you to find out how biologists work by working with an off campus biological organization. The internship should embody significant involvement in all aspects of the organization and its activities. The internship should not be spent acting as a go-fer, shuffling papers, or secretarial work, except to the extent that these are a part of the typical employee. If at any time you feel that you are being used unfairly or are not gaining significant experience and introduction to a biological career you need to have a discussion with either your on-site or college supervisor.

Requirements:

1. Keep a weekly journal-like summary of the experiences, responsibilities, and accomplishments during your internship. Significant amount of detail (hours worked, tasks undertaken, jobs accomplished, learned information or techniques, data collected, etc.) should go into the journal.

3 credit internship - 135 hours required on-site

4 credit internship - 180 hours required on-site

2. An internship summary paper must be submitted at the completion of the internship. The paper should include:

a summary of your main tasks and accomplishments during the internship
a summary of learning that occurred during the internship
an analysis of the overall impact of the internship on your experience as a Biology Major
a personal view as to the suitability of the organization for future BIO interns

3. A letter of evaluation from your on-site internship supervisor.

4. You should arrange an on-site visit by your campus internship supervisor at least once during your internship unless the site is too distant from campus.

All of the above components must be submitted and approved before a grade of S (Satisfactory) will be submitted to the Registrar's Office signifying completion of the requirements for BIO491.

Your internship experience can be used to collect data, background information, and resources for your senior research presentation and paper, but additional work will be expected to meet the requirements of BIO499. Approval by your internship supervisor and the Biology Department Chairperson are required.

BIO491 CANNOT be used as a replacement for a content oriented course in the Major. BIO491 is an extra elective opportunity to gain experience.

Student Signature Required:

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Attach a copy of this signed form to each Contract for Academic Internship submitted.