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Why ArtSci Students Succeed
If you want fresh ideas, hire students who think beyond the obvious. Great companies run on great thinkers, and our students adapt quickly, communicate clearly, and solve problems creatively. Trained to collaborate across disciplines, candidates from the College of Arts & Sciences are the competitive edge your team needs.
See what our students are up to:
Why Create an Internship?
Internships add value! Interns boost your brand visibility on campus, build product knowledge, and help strengthen your pipeline of future professionals. Plus, supervising interns gives your current team members the chance to grow their management and leadership skills. By offering these applied experiences, you help USU students earn academic credit (when approved) and build professional connections while gaining real-world experience.
No internships ready to go right now? No problem! Reach out to the Internship Specialist to be kept in the know on College recruiting events and other opportunities.
Building an Internship Program
Expectations for Interns
What Interns Should Do
- Work on meaningful projects that build professional skills.
- Assist with research, writing, data, creative work, or analysis.
- Collaborate with teams on tasks that contribute to real organizational goals.
- Shadow professionals to understand workflows, tools, and decision-making processes.
- Attend relevant meetings to see how projects and teams function.
- Receive mentorship and feedback that helps them grow and understand industry standards.
- Develop new competencies with training, guidance, or structured learning opportunities.
What Interns Shouldn’t Do
- Perform only clerical or repetitive tasks (copies, coffee, filing) with no connection to learning.
- Replace regular employees or work as extra staffing during busy periods.
- Carry out sensitive or high-risk responsibilities without proper training and supervision.
- Work independently with little instruction, feedback, or oversight.
- Be treated as general labor, errand-runners, or catch-all task fillers.
The College of Arts & Sciences supports the NACE Criteria for Internships and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Best Practices for Employers
Consider Internship Length
Typically, internships last 12-14 weeks and run on the same timeline as academic semesters:
- Fall (Late August - Early December)
- Spring (Early January - Late April)
- Summer (Mid-May - Early August)
Review and Confirm Compensation and Benefits
The College of Arts & Sciences strongly supports and advocates for paid internships. Paying interns removes barriers for students and helps you attract a larger, stronger applicant pool.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, unpaid interns are generally not considered “employees” for minimum wage and overtime protections, and some workplace protections that apply to employees may not extend to unpaid interns. For more information, see U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs Under the FLSA.
Create the Job Description, Determine an Evaluation Process, and Prepare Your Team for the New Addition
- Assign an Internship Supervisor/Mentor
- Consider work arrangements, including in-person vs. hybrid vs. remote conditions.
- Create an onboarding or orientation and training plan in collaboration with the teams your intern will be working with.
Find Ways to Consistently Involve Your Intern with Professional Development and Mentorship Opportunities
Students are expecting to learn professional and workplace behavioral skills as much as technical skills. Structure the internship to include regular check-ins with their supervisor and other leaders in the company, as well as company social events.
Internship Agreements
If your student is getting credit for their internship, they will likely provide their own internship agreement form for you to complete together. If your intern isn’t seeking credit, we highly recommend creating one together.
An internship agreement should clearly outline the intern’s role, responsibilities, learning objectives, supervision structure, work schedule, compensation (if any), and the expectations of both the employer and the student. It should also include compliance with labor laws and the educational purpose of the internship.
Templates to Get Started
- Sample Internship Job Description with Examples
- Sample Internship Agreement/Contract Document
- Same Internship Performance Review Document
To modify any of these examples to better fit your organizational needs, reach out to the Internship Specialist today!
Does Your Intern Qualify for Academic Credit?
While the College of Arts & Sciences provides shared guidance and resources through the Internship Hub, departments and centers define internship expectations and requirements in ways that align with their disciplinary goals, curricula, and student needs.
To ensure that an experience is both educational and worthy of academic credit, certain criteria should be met.
- Learning and Reflection: Opportunities and experiences are provided which enhance learning and aid the student’s career interests; situations are created and designed which allow the intern to review and reflect.
- Goals/Objectives: There are clearly defined learning objectives. The skills or knowledge learned should be transferable to other employment settings.
- Duration: The experience has a defined beginning and end, a job description with desired qualifications, and, to enhance the benefits for both the student and employer, are generally between 8-12 weeks in length.
- Hours and Academic Credit: Internships may be part- or full-time in nature. If a student is seeking academic credit for their internship, the required work hours/credit hours and associated coursework will be determined by the supervising academic unit or university-wide office.
- Supervision, Feedback, & Evaluation: There is supervision by a professional with expertise and educational and/or professional background in the field of the experience. The student receives routine feedback and a final evaluation at the end of the internship by the experienced supervisor.
If all criteria are met, encourage the student intern to reach out to the Intern Specialist to explore course options.
USU Employer Recruiting Guidelines
Questions?
Brittney Skye
Internship Specialist
I can help with:
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Checkmark iconDesigning or Improving Internship Roles
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Checkmark iconPosting on Handshake
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Checkmark iconWorkshopping Agreements
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Checkmark iconTroubleshooting Challenges
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Checkmark iconConnecting to ArtSci Programs
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Checkmark iconStrategies for Supporting Interns
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Checkmark iconBest Internship Practices