Internships

The student pursuing an internship is expected to take responsibility for finding an appropriate sponsor and for organizing communication between the graduate director and the internship supervisor. Nevertheless, he or she should use these guidelines as an aid.

The joint M.A. program entertains proposals for two types of internships: field internships, which include work in the publishing industry, in technical writing, in community college teaching, in museums, in archives, etc.; and internal teaching internships at the College of Charleston.

Field Internships:

These internships are designed to help students imagine and test out a transition from academe to the professional world. The goal is to develop real-world experience in a non-academic field the student may want to pursue after graduation.

For internships in the field, the graduate director will act as the student’s faculty supervisor. In consultation with both her home institution (Citadel or University of Charleston) graduate director and with the off-campus supervisor of the internship, the student will complete whatever forms are necessary for enrollment in ENGL 702 – Internship: such as an individual enrollment registration form and an internship agreement form.

All field internships require that students keep a weekly journal, write a short reflective narrative paper at the end, turn in a portfolio of work produced, and complete 3 evaluation forms. In addition, students should consult with their site supervisor in order to lay out the more specific duties of the individual internship.  Consulting with the home institution graduate advisor early in the application process will help the student devise an appropriate project. This application should be approved before the first day of class of the academic semester in which the project is to be undertaken.

It is the student’s responsibility to find an internship and secure the cooperation of the off-campus sponsor. But your home institution graduate director can help you develop contacts that might prove fruitful. The career services offices at each institution may also serve as an excellent resource.

Internal Teaching Internships (at the College of Charleston):

Internal teaching internships are available to all joint program students, regardless of their home institution, but are always conducted with College of Charleston English Department faculty members.  They function like apprenticeships, in which a student works closely with a faculty member to plan, instruct, and evaluate an undergraduate English class (usually ENGL 110, although it is possible to intern in other classes as well).  Internal teaching internships are designed to introduce students to the teaching of composition and/or literature classes at the college level. Such an internship is appropriate for those students pursuing a career in teaching at the two-year college level, a career at a four-year college, or a doctorate.

It may be possible to arrange teaching internships at other local institutions (such as Trident Technical College or Coastal Carolina University); however, theses are considered field internships and must follow the process outlined above.  It is highly recommended that students undertaking a teaching internship at another institution do not do so in their very first semester in the M.A. Program.  Ideally, students should first enroll in one of the College’s internal teaching internships to work closely with an experienced professor before taking on writing or literature classes of their own.

As with field internships, it is the responsibility of the student undertaking an internal teaching internship to secure the cooperation of a faculty sponsor. But the University of Charleston graduate director can help you develop contacts that might prove fruitful.  In consultation with both the graduate director and with the internship’s supervisor, the student will complete the necessary forms.

For teaching internships conducted at the College of Charleston, the mentoring faculty member will be the faculty supervisor. For internships sponsored by other institutions, the home institution graduate director is officially the faculty supervisor.

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