Internships or internship-like experiences such as practica and fieldwork, are required or offered in all degree programs, and are graded pass/fail in most of the programs. Internships are offered on the premise that academic knowledge combined with practical experience develops the student’s confidence in their career path and better prepares them to succeed professionally. A successful association with an internship sites lays the groundwork for an offer of employment to the intern upon graduation or earlier, or facilitates the successful transition to graduate studies. Internships supervised by the Sullivan Career and Life Planning Center include all majors except Education and Pre-Occupational Therapy Studies. Completion of WEL 310 Strategies for Career and Personal Growth is recommended prior to beginning an Internship. Typically, a minimum CGPA of 2.0 or higher is required to begin an internship.

Internships Supervised by the Sullivan Career and Life Planning Center (SCLP)

Bay Path students are accountable for initiating the planning of their internships, between the second semester of their sophomore year and first semester of junior year. A student must schedule their planning session at least four months in advance of when they plan to begin their internship to facilitate the matching of an appropriate site. A Career Coach assists the student in locating an appropriate internship site. The Career Coach, in conjunction with the site supervisor, ensures that learning goals are established with the student, monitors the internship, facilitates the evaluation of student performance, and assists with reflection and application of learning. Internships are normally completed in the second half of a degree program while the student is enrolled; however, students may start internships in sophomore year with the approval of their faculty advisor. Six-credit internships require 240 hours of approved supervised work; three-credit internships require 120 hours.

Students pursuing a double major should consult with their advisors in each major department to determine the most effective approach in fulfilling the internship requirement. A student may complete two three-credit internships instead of one six-credit internship as appropriate. As a guideline, a student should have at least 30 to 36 credits in each major demonstrating competence beyond the core requirements. Students can complete more than 6 credits of internship experience with specific approval from their faculty advisor.

Students are strongly encouraged to begin their planning process by February 1st for summer internships, April 1st for fall internships and October 1st for spring internships.

At least four months before the student plans to start the internships, they:

1. Initiate a meeting with their faculty advisor to determine the timing of the internship and placement of credit on degree audit. This information can be recorded on the Internship Profile and shared with the career coach.
2. Register for and attends a planning session to join the internship course, working with their career coach to secure an appropriate site and to obtain documentation required to complete their internship.
3. Complete the Learning Contract with their site supervisor, considering program learning goals for their major in conjunction with their career goals. This Learning Contract is signed by the student, site supervisor, career coach and faculty advisor prior to the start of the internship.
   During the internship experience, the student:
4. Meets regularly with the site supervisor, recording progress on learning goals and hours worked on their time log. The student must upload time logs signed by the site supervisor at least monthly during the internship.
5. Is accountable for informing the career coach in a timely manner of any changes or challenges during the experience and for seeking assistance as needed to resolve any issues that may arise.
   After the internship, the student:
6. Uploads their site evaluation and their site supervisor’s evaluation to the internship course within one week of completing their required hours.
7. Prepares and uploads the Internship Summary to the internship course within 30 days of their last day, or by the date that credit bearing course assignments are due, whichever occurs first.
8. Prepares a Internship Reflection presentation and registers to present at an Internship Reflection Session, inviting their site supervisor and faculty advisor to attend; presents and uploads their presentation to the internship course, along with their updated career portfolio. The student receives five hours toward their total internship hours (120 or 240) for preparing the Internship Summary, Reflection Presentation and career portfolio update.

Once all required documentation is received, a final grade of Pass/Fail is submitted by the career coach. The student is required to upload all required documentation within the established time frames in order to ensure that credit will be issued for their internship experience.

Cooperative Education

The University’s Cooperative Education Experience (UEE), is an alternative to internships, in some programs, and represents a more intense, professional level experience. Cooperative education is a structured educational strategy that integrates classroom studies with learning through productive work experiences in a field related to a student's academic or career goals. Co-op students work in a professional setting off-campus in paid jobs that are entry level or career-track in their field. During their co-op semester, students engage in work experiences that are carefully selected to be both appropriate learning environments and productive, relevant work. Students working in co-op positions simultaneously take a co-op course through their department, during which they work with a faculty mentor who helps them to make critical connections between their academic classes and the work in the field, effectively linking theory with practice. Students wishing to participate in the co-op program will work with their advisor as early as their first year, to begin planning and preparing for the experience.