By Stephen Cooney, Editor-in-Chief
Internships are a vital part of the learning process for any student attending the University. They are even more vital to students in the School of Communication. These opportunities give students the chance to gain valuable hands-on experience while gaining real industry contacts. Without internships, it is nearly impossible for communication students to acquire a job or gain vital contacts that could lead to possible job opportunities.
After completing a day at my current internship, I found out that the Journalism Department has just changed its current rules on internships. In the past, students were required to take one professional internship for three credits and had the option of taking a second internship for the same amount of credits. This internship allowed students leeway to take an internship for credit to complete their requirements and also have the option of finding a second internship if the opportunity were to arise. The new change in the curriculum eliminates this option.
The Journalism Department’s new change still requires students to take one professional internship, but the second internship must be completed on campus. This leaves the students with few options and also a question they must answer. Since most internships in journalism are unpaid—occasionally a student can find a paid internship but this usually requires previous experience—many publications and companies require that it be completed for credit.
Within the new guidelines, however, students are able to break journalism 170 (Professional Internship) into smaller parts—one internship for a single credit and another for two credits—this does allow for students to take more than one internship. But is it really prudent for a student to risk this scenario? If they complete their first internship for a single credit and do not find a second internship, they will be unable to graduate because they will not have completed all the credits for graduation. The wise choice for students is to complete their first internship for all three credits and hope that they can find a second internship that does not require credit. This places students in a bad situation. What if the student finds his/her dream internship and cannot complete it because there is no way to receive credit? Not only could this be a disappointment for a student hoping to break into the journalism field, but also it can hinder them from possibly finding a job or specifically their dream job.
I understand that the Journalism Department is trying to assure students the possibility of learning skills that they cannot achieve within a classroom, but they may be preventing students from furthering their careers by eliminating the possibility of achieving a second internship that must be completed for credit. I hope that when doing this, the Journalism Department weighed the implications of the new policy and has formulated some plan if this situation were ever to arise. Giving students the option of receiving credit for an on-campus internship seems like a good idea, but if it eliminates the ability to take a second internship because they are unable to receive credit for it, this could further put a stop to their hopes of really breaking into a highly competitive shrinking field.
