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Internship Program Overview

A.            Overview

  1. To register for an economics internship, you register for both Economics 294 and 295 for a total of 3 credits.  Economics 294 (Fieldwork, 2 credits) is graded on an S/U basis (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory).   Economics 295 (Research Paper, 1 credit) is graded with an A through F grade. The two S/U credits cannot count towards the 24 credits in 200 level economics courses required for a major in economics.
  1. Internship contract: Prior to work in the field, the student, the field supervisor, and the faculty supervisor shall sign a contract outlining the responsibilities of the various parties. You may download the form for the contract here.  It must be completed, signed and filed with the faculty supervisor prior to registration for the internship credits.
  1. After the contract has been completed and approved, the faculty supervisor will provide you with permission numbers for Econ. 294 and 295.  You register for the courses on PeopleSoft, and at the same time must submit two completed and signed Independent Study forms, one each for Econ. 294 and 295, to the registrar.  All these must be completed before the end of the second week of classes for the regular semester.
  1. Faculty Supervisor:

The faculty supervisor for the internship program in economics is:

Professor Fred Carstensen

Monteith Room 310

Telephone: 860-486-0614

e-mail: fred.carstensen@att.net

B.            Prerequisites:

 To be eligible for an internship, you must:

  1. have completed at least one 200-level economics course and either have completed or be taking concurrently at least 2 other 200-level economics courses (you do not have to be an economics major); and
  2. have a minimum total grade point average (TGPA) of 2.25 or a minimum of 2.5 in 200-level economics courses.

C.            Requirements:

 Economics 294 - Fieldwork (2 credits)

  1. The internship requires eight (8) hours per week in the field for a 14-week semester, (or the equivalent in the summer).
  2. The student must meet regularly with the faculty supervisor during the semester.
  3. The student shall maintain a journal of his/her weekly work experiences, and what was learned about Economics as a result of these experiences. A copy of this journal should be submitted to the faculty supervisor at the time of both midterm and final exams.  Instructions on how to complete the journal are found at the ECON 294 webpage.
  4. The field supervisor shall submit at the time of both the midterm and final exams, a written evaluation of the student’s fieldwork, recommending a grade of satisfactory or unsatisfactory.  See also the ECON 294 webpage for additional information, and for the form that you should provide to your field supervisor to complete his/her report.
  5. The faculty supervisor will make the final evaluation of the field work and submit a grade of S or U for two hours of credit.

 Economics 295 - Research Paper (1 credit)

  1. The student will write a research paper of 10-15 pages on a topic related to the fieldwork. The faculty supervisor will submit a regular letter grade for 1 credit for this portion of the internship.
  2. The topic of the paper should be related to the internship work experience. However, the paper is not a recounting of this experience.  Rather, it is a scholarly paper on a economic issue or topic that the student has encountered during the internship.  Instructions for the research paper are found at the ECON 295 webpage. The intern should meet the following deadlines in completing the research paper:

  •       Submit an outline of the paper for faculty feedback by the end of the sixth week of the semester.

  •       Submit a first draft of the paper for faculty feedback by the end of the eleventh week of the semester.

  •       Submit a final revised draft by the end of the semester. Note all students will be expected to submit BOTH a first and a revised draft of their paper.

D.            Internship Sponsors

Students are responsible for arranging their own internships.  The Department can provide leads on organizations that have sponsored economics interns in the past, or students can identify their own prospective sponsors.  In either case, students contact the sponsors about the possibility of doing an internship with their organization and negotiate any terms (regarding hours, possible pay, responsibilities, etc.) directly with the sponsor.

E.             Special Instructions for Economics Internship During Summer Session

            Economic internships can be taken during the summer.  Students are required to register for the internship (Econ 294 and 295) through the College of Continuing Studies.  Econ 294 and 295 are listed under Summer Session 4.  Students must register by the registration deadline for this session.  Before being able to register, the internship must be arranged and the contract must be signed by both the internship sponsor and the faculty supervisor.