Internships

The Finance department internship program allows students to blend classroom learning with valuable work experience. Interns develop a better understanding of the financial industry, create connections, and are more likely to secure job offers from the employer they intern with.

General Info:

Course – 496: Practicum – 3 credits. This course is for Finance majors and can be used as a Business elective course only.

Qualifications: In order to do an internship in Finance, you need to register or finish the core required 300-level courses before you can register for Fin 496 and have at least junior standing.

Payment: Students are usually not allowed to take un-paid internships. However, with the current business environment, we will approve internships with significant learning opportunities.

An internship is:

  • A structured work experience related to a student's major and/or career goal
  • An experience that should enhance a student's academic, career, and personal development
  • Supervised by a professional in the field
  • An experience that can be one academic term (summer, spring, fall) or multiple academic terms in length
  • Paid, part-time or full-time, co-op experience can count toward their internship
  • An experience that is mutually agreed upon by the student and Department Chair
  • Meets registration requirements for 3 credit hour academic internship course Internships are considered to be a minimum of 180 hours of work per semester. Consult with the department chair about your placement before you decide. Some companies look for interns to do free labor and the chair will help you steer around those. Students looking to do an internship should find a placement they are interested in. Students then meet with the Department Chair to discuss the placement. You must meet with the Department Chair, for approval on an individual basis and this must be completed prior to the beginning of the internship semester. No credit can be awarded for an internship after the fact. The internship must relate directly to either finance, insurance, real estate, investments or finance related fields. Your employer must submit an email to the department chair specifying the nature of the internship, the start/end date of the internship, and the approximate number of hours worked per week. The department chair will be the Faculty Sponsor. Throughout the internship students are required to keep a log of the dates and hours they worked and the tasks they performed. At the end of the internship students must write an essay that links their coursework to their new learning experience. At the end of the internship, your employer will need to send an email to the department chair providing an evaluation of your work experience. The employer's email should detail the hours the student worked, the type of work they were engaged in, and possibly recommended grade for the student.
  • Students should register for FIN 496 when it fits in their schedule (work may be started before they register for the class.). Included with the registration should be an approved proposal detailing the nature of the work, an employer contact, and how the internship will enhance their academic understanding.


Process:

Students looking to do an internship should find a placement they are interested in. Students then meet with the department chair to discuss the placement. You must meet with the department chair, for approval on an individual basis and this must be completed prior to the beginning of the internship semester. No credit can be awarded for an internship after the fact. The internship must relate directly to either finance, insurance, real estate, investments or finance related fields.

Students should register for FIN 496 when it fits in their schedule (work may be started before they register for the class.). Included with the registration should be an approved proposal detailing the nature of the work, an employer contact, and how the internship will enhance their academic understanding.

Your employer must submit an email to the department chair specifying the nature of the internship, the start/end date of the internship, and the approximate number of hours worked per week. The Department chair will be the Faculty Sponsor. Throughout the internship students are required to keep a log of the dates and hours they worked and the tasks they performed. At the end of the internship students must write an essay that links their coursework to their new learning experience. At the end of the internship, your employer will need to send an email to the department chair providing an evaluation of your work experience. The employer's email should detail the hours the student worked, the type of work they were engaged in, and possibly recommended grade for the student.