Internship and Shadow Opportunities

Experiential education includes internship and shadow opportunities that enable students to apply their classroom knowledge to practical workplace experiences. Many businesses, schools, healthcare facilities, laboratories, social service agencies, public relations, and media companies employ students in enriching part or full time real world experiences that offer students the opportunity to develop professional skills and explore career choices. Internships give students the opportunity to earn academic credit in their majors while they participate in certain paid or unpaid work experiences. The number of credits available for internship experiences varies by academic division. Faculty must approve the internship job description as worthy of academic credit before a student may register for credit. Students are required to complete a minimum of 45 hours of work to earn one academic credit. Students are responsible for finding a full-time faculty member who is willing to serve as their internship mentor. Students must register for internship credits before the start of the experience to ensure that they are covered by the College's liability insurance. Credit will not be awarded for work completed before registration for an internship. Grading will be on a Pass or Fail basis.

International internships provide Mount students with the opportunity to participate in an internship abroad. An internship abroad prepares students as world citizens and helps them develop a global perspective. Opportunities are available in many countries including Australia, China, England, Ireland, and Spain.

In addition, the Career Center staff will also assist students in finding appropriate shadow experiences that satisfy admission requirements for professional schools such as physical therapy, physician's assistant, speech language pathology, and veterinary medicine.

To participate in these experiential education opportunities, students must complete Internship Orientation through the Career Center e-class, and have their resumes reviewed and approved by their Career Counselor. Students must register on the Career Center's Knight Network at http://www.msmc.edu/knightnetwork and complete a practice interview either through Knight Network or a mock interview. In consultation with a Career Center staff member, students will identify their work preferences in order to be referred for an experiential education opportunity. Students who are pursuing programs of study in finance, human services, psychology, physical therapy/psychology, sports management, healthcare administration, Humanities at Work, and technology and digital media are required to participate in this program to obtain their prescribed internship. Students must complete Internship Orientation and meet with a Career Counselor one semester before they expect to intern.

Participation is optional for most majors except as noted above. Internships are open to all matriculated Mount students who are in good academic standing and are compliant with the Student Code of Conduct, who have completed their freshman year and have earned 30 credits, are carrying at least six credits per semester and have earned a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 (or a 2.0 cumulative GPA for programs of study in finance, human services, psychology, physical therapy/psychology, sports management, healthcare administration, Humanities at Work, and technology and digital media).

Students must apply to participate in internships, volunteer and shadow experiences and may do so by completing Internship Orientation through the Career Center e-class link available on the MSMC portal, under the "office" tab, click on Career Center (https://portal.msmc.edu/ICS/Offices/Career_Center/. Students who have questions may stop by at the Career Center in Aquinas Hall to obtain further details.