Undergraduate Internships

Guidelines you must take into account when looking for an internship if you want it considered for course credit:

• No organization may have more than TWO unpaid interns receiving academic credit from our program during a given semester.
• The internship must be highly relevant to the student’s major education (advertising or public relations) and to their future career development. It must also give the student the opportunity to put in practice what they’ve learned academically.
• Students must take the internship class during the same semester or summer session that they complete the internship. Retroactive credit for internships will not be granted under any circumstances.
• The student must complete a minimum of 180 work hours during the semester at their internship. This equates to working an average of 12 hours per week for Fall and Spring semesters, and working an average of 15 hours per week for Summer semesters.
• Clerical/administrative work should not consist of more than 20% of the internship duties.
• Interns should not make up more than 20% of the total workforce. There must be a good balance between the number of employees and the number of interns (especially if the internship is not paid) and that is to make sure the student receives proper supervision. If there are too many interns and not enough employees the student will not have someone teach them what they are expecting to learn from the internship.
• There must be no more that 3-4 interns being supervised by the same person. This is to ensure that the student will have a chance to work at different assignments and be properly supervised.
• If the internship is not remote, it should take place in an office setting where the student has direct and in-person contact with their supervisor. It may not take place in a personal residence.
• Students may not use software with UT-Austin licenses during their internship. If the employer requires that the student use their own computer and they need to use software purchased from the University at an academic discount, the employer is in violation of the University license (students signed a paper stating that they were purchasing software from UT - FOR ACADEMIC USE ONLY). Occasionally students use the software they purchased with the UT license for personal use, but employers should be notified that this is not appropriate for use at their organization.
• All work-related expenses incurred by the student in the course of their internship need to be paid for or refunded by the organization, unless other financial agreements are made. AT MINIMUM the employer should cover a student’s direct expenses such as gas, parking, etc. unless the student receives adequate compensation.
• Dr. Cunningham, the course instructor, does not furnish employers with any document saying that the student is getting credit for the internship. Students do not get credit for the course until they have their final grade. However, their academic advisor may be able to give them a letter stating that they are enrolled in the course.
• Due to COVID-19 we are still accepting remote internships for credit.

In order to receive course credit for your internship you must have your internship approved by Dr. Cunningham, the course instructor and Internship Program Director. Getting your internship approved involves two main steps, carried out in a specific order. In short, you must first register for the internship class. Then you must submit details of your proposed internship for review and approval using the Moody College Internship Application.

You may register for the internship class before securing an internship. Once you have been hired as an intern, you may complete the application (step 2).

1. Register for the course.
   • If you register for an in-residence course, you must pay by the posted tuition deadline.
   • If you register for a summer University Extension course, you must pay for the course before you will have access to the internship application.
2. Complete the online Internship Application (https://utdirect.utexas.edu/apps/comm/coweb/internships/). You MUST be registered for a Moody internship course (either in-residence or through University Extension) before you will have access to this application.
   • You must pay for the summer University Extension course and receive your email receipt before you will have access to the internship application.
   • Add the comm-studentservices@austin.utexas.edu email address to your accepted contacts list so the emails regarding your application do not go to your spam folder.
3. Secure Approvals.
   • ​After you complete and submit your application, your internship supervisor (employer) will be contacted via email and asked to fill out their portion of the application. They’ll be asked to confirm (1) that you have been hired for an internship, (2) that the information you provided in your application is accurate, and (3) that they meet the following requirements for hosting an intern, which have been approved by The University of Texas at Austin's Office for Legal Affairs.
   • After your internship supervisor (employer) submits their portion of the application, Dr. Cunningham will receive a notification via email that all materials of your application have been submitted and are ready for review. Dr. Cunningham will then review your internship application and determine if it is suitable for academic credit by either approving or denying it.

You must track the status of both of these approvals by logging back on to your submitted application; you are responsible for ensuring that these approvals are granted before the deadline and following up when needed. Students who do not complete these steps by the posted deadline will be dropped from the internship course and will not receive academic credit for their internship.

Key for application deadlines:

Fall and Spring semesters:

• Deadline to submit is always the fourth class day i.e., the last day of the official add/drop period.
• Deadline to get application approved is always the twelfth class day i.e., the date the official enrollment count is taken.

Summer semesters:

• Deadline to submit is always the second class day for whole-session classes i.e., the last day of the official add/drop period.
• Deadline to get application approved is always the fourth class day for whole-session classes i.e., the date the official enrollment count is taken.

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Submission due dates for the internship application:

• Summer 2023 internship application submission - June 2, 2023 noon (12 p.m. central time).
• Fall 2023 internship application submission - August 24, 2023 noon (12 p.m. central time).
• Spring 2024 internship application submission - January 19, 2024 noon (12 p.m. central time).
• Summer 2024 internship application submission - June 7, 2024 noon (12 p.m. central time).

Approval due dates for the internship application:

• Summer 2023 internship application submission - June 6, 2023 noon (12 p.m. central time).
• Fall 2023 internship application approval - September 6, 2023 noon (12 p.m. central time).
• Spring 2024 internship application approval - January 31, 2024 noon (12 p.m. central time).
• Summer 2024 internship application submission - June 11, 2024 noon (12 p.m. central time).