Pamela Noel
Career Services
NYU Department of Journalism
20 Cooper Square, Room 647
New York, NY 10003

Email: pamela.noel@nyu.edu
Phone: 212-992-9665
Fax: 212-995-4148

PROCEDURES AND ASSIGNMENTS FOR SUMMER/FALL 2008

Your Work Hours: In general your SUMMER internship should encompass at least 170 hours total; internships during the FALL semester should take up from 12-20 hours a week. You should always discuss your beginning and ending dates with your job-site supervisor (and copy the Career Services director). Academic year internships will end the last day of classes. But if you want to work a short time beyond that date, that's your choice. Please note: you must be registered in this class to receive credit, so do not allow an employer to assume you will receive credit if you remain for a second semester without registering for this class again. You can only earn credit for one internship per semester.

Intern Record Sheet: In order to register for the course, you must E-MAIL the Career Services director a completed Intern Record Sheet. Please fill out all the requested information -- including your supervisor's e-mail address and telephone number. You will receive an access code by email. Please use that code to register for the course on Albert. A letter will be sent confirming that you will receive academic credit and that the supervisor will have to complete an evaluation. Please find out if someone in your company's Human Resources office also needs a letter confirming that you will receive credit. If so, please provide that person's e-mail address on your Intern Record Sheet.

Course Registration: You cannot receive credit unless you register and pay for the course before registration closes for the semester. If you have questions about the timing, please contact the Career Services director.

Assignments: Internship Logs: You will post a log (think of it as a very well-written report) to the Career Services director via Blackboard. Specific DUE DATES are listed below. Write these deadlines on your calendar now -- it's up to you to remember to submit your logs on time. In SUMMER: if the due dates do not work well with your internship start/stop dates (for instance, if your internship begins just days before the first log is due) please inform the Career Services director.

Format: Remember you should pay attention to presentation AND content. There should be distinct paragraphs, good sentence structure, correct grammar and accurate spelling. Style DON'Ts include capitalizing job titles in sentences and inconsistent use of first names versus last names in your copy. Careless writing or turning your log in late without permission will have an impact on your grade. PLEASE PROOFREAD YOUR LOGS.

Log 1: This first log should be 1,000 words.

Content: Your log should explain what you did in the past weeks at your internship and what you're learning. We encourage you to include interesting anecdotes, and we expect to see you thinking critically about your internship experience. (Don't just tell us what you're doing; tell us how you feel about what you're doing and why. Is the company going through major change? In what ways have you shown some initiative?)

Log 2 (which is the final log): Your final log should be a brief one-paragraph review of your internship (no more than 200-400 words) that tells other students what to expect if they, too, intern at that company. This review will be available as a reference for students next semester. All internship reviews will be anonymous.

Format: For both logs, put a heading at the top that shows your name, the place where you worked (give the overarching organization plus the specific section or show) and the semester you worked, e.g.:

THE VILLAGE VOICE (Film Section)
Summer 2008

or

CBS EVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC "20/20"
Fall 2008

Include in your review a description of what the publication/show does; what you did at the internship; how much time you spent doing various tasks, including grunt work; the potential for getting clips; and anything else you think is pertinent. Would you recommend this internship to another student? Why or why not?

DUE DATES: SUMMER 2008

• Log 1 - Friday, June 28
• Log 2 - Friday, July 25

DUE DATES: FALL 2008

• Log 1 - Friday, Oct. 10
• Log 2 - Friday, Nov. 28

To repeat: Submit your logs via Blackboard. During both summer and fall semesters, you may be contacted by the Career Services office for an individual meeting to discuss your logs. Do not assume you will be receiving an "A" for this course because you show up for your internship every day. Please be sure to read the notes about your logs on Blackboard, as this will be the best indication of how you are doing in the class.

If You're Having Any Problems at Your Internship: Don't hesitate to let the Career Services director know. Especially if you feel you're being asked to do a disproportionate amount of grunt work, such as spending most of your time making copies or running personal errands for your supervisor. Your communication is important because it's the only way we have of monitoring the environment inside the media organizations we work with. And if you feel the atmosphere at your workplace is any way threatening or harassing, call or e-mail the Career Services director directly and immediately. Please write "Urgent" in the subject heading of such an e-mail.

Supervisor's Evaluation: Toward the end of your internship we'll e-mail an evaluation form to your supervisor. Be sure to let us know if your supervisor changes during the semester, so we can send the evaluation form to the right person. We will let you know when we send it out. It is your responsibility to make sure we get the evaluation form back from your supervisor. You are allowed to see your evaluation (unless your supervisor requests otherwise).

Grades: You get a letter grade for the internship class, as with any other course. Your logs -- promptness and quality of submission -- will count for half your grade, and your supervisor's evaluation will count for the other half.

Contacting the Career Services director: The best way is by e-mail or telephone.

PAMELA NOEL

Email: pamela.noel@nyu.edu
Phone: 212-992-9665
Fax: 212-995-4148

Email: pamela.noel@nyu.edu