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International Internships

International Internships.jpg
International Internships.jpg

International Study Programs (ISP) at the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies offers a variety of programs designed to meet the needs of departments and students including study abroad, field studies, internship programs, and individual internships. Some departments have developed partnerships with ISP to form internship programs all over the world, while other departments only work with ISP when an individual student initiates an international internship. Both processes are outlined below.

Internship Programs

Some departments desire to have individual students or small groups of students complete an internship in international locations year after year with or without on-site faculty supervision. ISP offers planning and funding solutions to departments that wish to develop these programs. For additional information about establishing an international internship program in your department, contact Christopher Quinlan at 204F HRCB, x2-8535, or christopher_quinlan@byu.edu.

Individual International Internships

Generally speaking, if a U.S. citizen needs a passport to complete the internship, they MUST go through this process. (This includes internships in Mexico, Canada and U.S. territories outside the 50 states.) When a student wants to pursue an internship anywhere outside of the United States or if the internship experience will take the student out of the country for any reason at any time, the student must work conjointly with the department from which credit will be given and ISP to ensure the experience's academic integrity and the student's cultural preparedness and safety. ISP recommends that a student begin the international internship process at least six months prior to leaving for the international destination.

International Internship Procedure

  1. The student secures an internship, prints the ISP Individual Internship Proposal Form and meets with his or her Department Internship Coordinator. If the Department Internship Coordinator approves of the internship take your signed ISP Individual Internship Proposal Form to Christopher Quinlan, 204F HRCB 422-8535, christopher_quinlan@byu.edu. Any questions regarding the proposal can be directed to Christopher Quinlan.
  2. Upon approval, the International Internship Agreement is initiated by the intern. Once the International Internship Agreement is signed and returned to the Office of Experiential Learning, the Office of Experiential Learning will process the agreement and forward a copy to the appropriate department internship coordinator: the student receives training from ISP about creating course contracts, signs release forms, and receives orientation. A course contract is a written agreement between the participating student and the faculty member overseeing the course that outlines the student's responsibility in order to receive credit for a specific course. In most cases with internships, the department syllabus given to interns should function as the course contract. For more details about course contracts, please contact ISP at the Kennedy Center for a copy of the booklet, "Professor Handbook for Mentoring ISP Students."
  3. The student obtains the appropriate signatures on his or her course contract. At this point, the student also needs to complete any departmental paperwork required by the department providing credit. The coordinator sends the student back to ISP, and ISP will register the student for the internship and, if applicable, other courses. (If the student is slated to receive credit through a specific department, ISP at the Kennedy Center will enroll that student in the department-specified internship course instead of the IAS internship course. The department does not register the student.)
  4. The student completes all semester responsibilities as detailed in the course contract or syllabus.
  5. The faculty who signs the course contract submits the grade to ISP, not online. The faculty will be compensated for his/her work with the students by ISP if he/she submits the grades to ISP.

Security, Safety, and Health Information

Click here to view health and safety information for international travel hosted by the Kennedy Center.