Undergraduate Internships

NOTE: YOU HAVE TO REQUEST COURSE CREDIT IN ORDER TO BE APPROVED TO ENROLL IN JOUR 4800 OR ADVG 4800 PROFESSIONAL INTERNSHIP FOR COURSE CREDIT.

Gain additional experience and credit for 1, 2, or 3 semester hours through internships at newspapers, magazines, book publishing companies, television and radio stations, web companies, advertising and public relations agencies, and large and small businesses throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth region and the nation.

The internship program maintains strong ties with industry leaders in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, which provides students with excellent networking opportunities.

The Mayborn School of Journalism lists journalism internships and jobs on the UNT Career Center's Job Search Engine "Handshake". Please use the link on the UNT Eagle Careers webpage for instructions on how to access Handshake to look for jobs. Students and alumni can log-in to see all listings for internships and part-time and full-time jobs. Students currently enrolled at UNT will use their EUID and password. Alumni can access Eagle Careers by registering on the log-in page.

The school provides the services of a career specialist who assists students with internship, job, professional and academic opportunities. To visit with a UNT Career Development Specialist about careers, resume creation, or any related advice, please contact the Career Center at 940-565-2105.

If you work for one of the Mayborn School of Journalism's on-campus media agencies, like NT Daily, Denton Community TV, SWOOP, AGenZ or Hatch Visuals, these experiences can also satisfy the Professional Internship Requirements for Graduation. We highly recommend that students search for an off-campus internship first, before pursuing an on-campus Supervised Practicum experience for course credit. Supervised Practicums only run in Fall and Spring Full Terms and can only be taken for 1 credit hour of course credit. An important part of your career development is going through the experience of networking and applying for jobs and internships with local media companies. If you are a student seeking course credit for a Supervised Practicum Experience, you need to reach out directly to the supervising instructor to request an application form to be considered for a position:

Please note applications to the agencies' above only run once a semester and usually coincide with the Early Registration cycle for the upcoming term. Some agencies will screen applicants on a rolling basis, others will only review applications once a semester. Contact the supervising faculty member for more details on how to apply.

Students must have completed the following courses as prerequisites to enroll in the JOUR 4800 or ADVG 4800 Internship Course:

Are you enrolled in one of these courses now? Email JOURAdvising@unt.edu to start the internship for credit approval process. 

Important Note About Digital & Virtual Internships: The Mayborn School encourages internships that are supervised in person and provide a professional working environment to facilitate interactions with the supervisor and colleagues. Therefore, internships for digital entities that are done remotely from the supervisor may not be approved to earn credit. The approval of such internships will be at the discretion of the faculty internship supervisor in consultation with the associate dean for undergraduate studies.

However, the Mayborn School recognizes more communication positions allow for remote work environments. In these cases, we encourage the supervisors to offer paid internships and not ask the students to seek credit. Again, internships done remotely with limited interaction with the supervisor may not be approved.

In some instances, when the intern is able to work from his/her home, certain qualifications must be met.

The parameters are:

• Bi-weekly Skype (or other video online service) interactions with supervisor that include feedback
• At least 4 in-person meetings with supervisor in a public location
• Supervisor interactions will be evaluated at mid-term

Again, the approval of all internships will be at the discretion of the faculty internship supervisor in consultation with the associate dean for undergraduate studies.

Please note, at no time will the school allow a for-credit internship where a student works from an employer/supervisor's home.

The Mayborn School encourages internships with professional outlets - businesses and organizations that are devoted to or have a component unit dedicated to the mass communication industry. Internships should also promote writing and processes that follow mass communication professional norms. Additionally, the supervisor must be a professional in the mass communication field or have served as the communications person within his/her place of employment.

Student Media/Student Organizations

A Student Media job or a student organization position may not receive credit as an internship. The school defines an internship-for-credit as an experience beyond the boundaries of the Mayborn School--whether in another campus unit or outside the university in a real-world, professional setting.

Step-by-step Guide

1. Complete the request form to be added to the CANVAS Prerequisite Approval Process for JOUR 4800. This is a CANVAS Page that walks you through all the requirements you need to get an off-site internship experience approved for course credit. It contains 4 modules, three quizzes, and two assignments in which you upload your required documents needed for your faculty advisor to review and approve your internship experience you would like to count for course credit. You can work on completing all the modules and quizzes while you are searching for an internship site.
2. Find an internship. You can find an internship the same way you apply for and find other jobs. This includes applying directly to a business through their website or job application portal, or by applying to jobs listed on the UNT Eagle Careers Handshake link. You can also contact the newspaper, ad agency, public relations agency, television or radio station, web media organization or other organizations and apply for an internship. Many organizations list internships on their website. The internship must be directly related to your major. If you are unsure about this, speak first with your faculty advisor for your major.
   • Advertising - Larry.Powell@unt.edu
   • Public Relations -
     1. In Fall or Spring Terms contact Kimberly.Keller@unt.edu or Rebecca.Poynter@unt.edu.
     2. In Summer Terms contact Gwen.Nisbett@unt.edu
   • Digital and Print or Teacher Cert. - Gary.Ghioto@unt.edu
   • Video, Broadcast and Multimedia - Brittany.McElroy@unt.edu
   • Photojournalism - Thorne.Anderson@unt.edu

3. You will apply to sites, interview for positions, and once offered an internship position, you will be ready to proceed on with the process of getting approved for registration in your internship supervision course.

What needs to be in my job offer letter from the site?

Job offer letters from the site need to include the following information:

• Start Date of Internship
• End Date of Internship
• Number of Hours you will work each week
• Is the position paid? If so, what is the rate of pay?
• The title of the position you have been hired for
• A list of your job duties or expectations (This can be a bullet list of job tasks or a written description of expectations)
• The name of your supervisor at the Internship Site, as well as their official title.
• The physical address of the location of your internship site.

PLEASE NOTE: All hours logged for course credit must be done during the semester in which a student is enrolled. You will not receive credit for internship hours you have already worked in the past semester or before the first day of the semester you are enrolled. You start logging supervision hours with your faculty member on the first day of the enrollment term, and you must work at least a minimum of 100 hours at the site DURING the enrollment term. For every 100 hours worked at the site during the term, you are eligible to earn 1 hour of course credit. The maximum number of hours of course credit allowed for internship for course credit are 3 credit hours. Here are some examples of typical internship contracts and how they equate to hours of course credit.

4. Registering for an internship for course credit. Once you have uploaded your job offer letter and completed request for internship course credit form to CANVAS. All Mayborn students are required to take at least one credit hour of either JOUR 4800 or ADVG 4800 internship. A supervised practicum credit like JOUR 4810, JOUR 4805 or ADVG 4815 can also satisfy the internship for course credit requirement for graduation. Students will not be able to submit the course credit themselves online since department approval is required. Once you submit all your required documents via CANVAS, a Mayborn Faculty Advisor will review your documents for you to be registered for the course credit by the Mayborn Internship Coordinator. All modules and quizzes must be completed to gain access to your internship course credit application form. Both the internship course credit application form and the job offer letter on company letterhead are required for review and approval for registration. Please make sure that the documents you upload include both your signature and the signature of your internship site supervisor.

5. Once you have completed the above steps, your internship will be ready for approval by the faculty supervisor of your area in journalism. Once your faculty advisor has approved your internship application in the internship Canvas page, you will be enrolled in the appropriate internship course section and notified.

6. Your Prerequisite Approval for JOUR 4800/ADVG 4800 CANVAS page will disappear once your Internship Registration has been approved. The CANVAS course for you JOUR 4800 or ADVG 4800 class will not appear online until the first class day of the registration term. Students that late register should see the CANVAS page for their course appear the next calendar day after their registration occurs.

7. No hours earned before the first day of the semester you are enrolled for can be counted towards your credit hour requirement. Only the hours you work the first day of classes through the end of the term will count.

8. During the internship, you must regularly submit a typed report to your faculty supervisor outlining what you have done and any problems you have encountered during your internship. Details about how often to submit and what report content should include will be provided by your instructor on the first class day. Be sure to check your myunt email account and Canvas course page regularly for communication from your instructor. Include your phone number in your reply.

9. Your supervisor on the job will receive an evaluation survey about two thirds of the way through the semester. The supervisor is expected to fill out the survey evaluation and will be asked to include hours you have completed as well as your progress in the internship.

10. At the end of your internship period you must fill out a final report form to assess your internship and then submit it to your faculty supervisor by the end of dead week. This form will be located on the Canvas website where you submitted your application.

1. Does a student have to have "major status" to qualify for an internship?
   Yes. Students must be majors and have taken and passed at least one upper level skills class in the area of interest. See above for list of pre-requisites by concentration.
2. Can a student be paid and get credit for internships at the same time?
   Yes.
3. Are internships pass/no pass or are grades assigned?
   Grades are assigned by the supervising professor, with the feedback and help from the supervisor in the business or organization which is hosting the student intern.
4. Is there a minimum GPA before someone can apply for and receive an internship?
   Yes. The student must be a major in good standing. That means the student must have a minimum overall GPA of 2.0 based on all courses taken.
5. How should students turn in their weekly reports?
   The supervising professor will set up specific dates on which the reports are due. Deadlines must be followed. Missing a deadline will result in a lower grade for students.
6. Can students get credit for the same Internship through Journalism and other programs at the same time?
   No.
7. How many hours does a student work for Internship credit?
   100 hrs. = 1 hr. credit; 200 hrs. = 2 hrs. credit; 300 hrs. = 3 hrs. Credit
8. Does a student have to enroll in 3 credit hours if they have contracted to work 300 hours for the business?
   No. If you only need 1 credit hour to graduate, you do not have to enroll in and pay for 3 credit hours. However, you do have to work the 300 hours you have contracted to work for the business.
9. Does each full-time professor have a section number for Internships?
   Yes. You will be enrolled in the journalism supervisor's section that corresponds with the area of journalism you are studying.

• What are you doing now that will get you the job you want tomorrow? Your self-motivation shows by the actions you take today.
• Join a professional organization. You will learn more about your field and will have the opportunity to meet professionals who can become part of your network.
• Meet with the professionals at their offices to learn more about what they do and their likes and dislikes about the industry.
• Volunteer to write that PSA or design that brochure for a United Way agency. You will not only help the agency but you will also be adding to your portfolio clips.
• Internship process steps (in a nutshell) to earn course credit:
  • Register by clicking on the link above: "Start the internship for credit process"
  • Complete all modules and quizzes, earning a 100% grade on each quiz.
  • Fill out your application and attach your offer letter.
  • Wait for instructor approval. Check your myunt email account regularly in case your instructor has questions about your application.
  • Once instructor approval is received, you will be enrolled for the credit hours you indicated on your application. You will receive an email confirmation from MaybornInternships@unt.edu.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SEXUAL HARASSMENT BEFORE ACCEPTING AN INTERNSHIP?

Workplaces have different policies, but in general, unwelcome or offensive sexual conduct is likely to raise a concern of sexual harassment. The behavior may be a violation of federal law if it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or the behavior results in an adverse employment decision.