Career Development Center

The Purchase College Internship Program at the Career Development Center provides students with opportunities to obtain academic (credit-bearing) as well as non-credit internships with local and regional employers. As a high impact educational opportunity, the internship program allows students to gain knowledge and experience, learn in a “real world” environment, explore a chosen profession and achieve academic credit for their experience.

Employers often seek out talented, motivated, and skilled Purchase student interns as a way of supporting their organizations’ project needs, finding “future stars, while providing undergraduates with an exceptional learning experience in their industry of interest.

1. Provide a meaningful learning experience for your intern

   Internships are expected to provide educational, hands-on, learning experiences where students gain an opportunity to learn and develop relevant competencies and skills. The intern should receive appropriate training, supervision, and on-going support for their experience. Projects assigned should be learning based, as supervisors provide clear expectations for the intended learning outcomes and competencies that the student will gain.

2. Provide Supervision

   Interns benefit from your knowledge, guidance, and mentoring as they learn new skills and contribute to your organization. Your role is to serve as both a supervisor and an educator.

3. Review and approve the on-line Internship Learning Contract in a timely way

   At the beginning of an academic internship, Internship Site Supervisors must review and approve their part of the on-line Internship Learning Contract in order for the student to register their internship with the college for academic credit. Internship Site Supervisors will receive the email “Purchase College Student Internship Approval Needed” to access the online Learning Contract without having to log into Purchase JobScore. Internship sponsors will also include a description of the internship, that addresses the training provided and learning outcomes and select the Expected Competencies Gained.

4. Complete the on-line Evaluation in a timely way.

   Near the end of an academic internship, Internship Site Supervisors receive directions on completing an on-line Evaluation for their interns, (including a direct link to the evaluation form) which must be completed in order for the intern to receive academic credit for their experience. (See Procedures and Deadlines bellow.)

Please Note: The number of credits awarded for internships are based on how many hours students spend at their internship site over a semester. The maximum credits for any one internship is 4. (view the minimum hour/credit requirements). To assist students and internship sponsors with tracking hours, students can maintain an Internship Time Sheet throughout the semester.

Internship opportunities can be listed on our free on-line job and internship system – Purchase JobScore. To access the system, simply visit our Employer Services page and select “Create your employer account” in order to create your account on the system. You may then post a description of your internship for students to review.

An employee is an individual who is hired to perform a job or service on a full-time or part-time basis and is paid for the performance of his or her duties by the employer. If a student is hired as an employee, the US Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that they are paid at least minimum wage. Please refer to the US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division and the NACE Position Statement on Compensation for Internships for additional details.

If a student is hired as an intern, the employer is not required to provide compensation; however, the internship site must comply with the Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act’s primary beneficiary test.

Although it is not required that Site Supervisors pay their interns, whenever possible, offering some type of compensation, such as a stipend, will help to attract high quality candidates to your organization. If your position is unpaid, you may consider offering alternative “perks” such as travel reimbursement, lunch, or participation in conferences and special events, if appropriate.

While all members of a staff, including interns, may be asked to complete a variety of tasks, the majority of the interns’ assignments must be learning based. Primarily, an internship (whether paid or unpaid) differs from a job because the student’s learning is the central focus of the experience.

After you post your internship on Purchase JobScore, interview and select your intern, please be aware of the following deadlines:

Internship Contract Deadline:
Prior to the start of the internship - Complete/approve the Internship Learning Contract form on-line and include or attach a description of the student’s internship including what the student will learn and the type of training that will be provided. Learning Contracts must be completed by the academic registration deadline.

Deadline: Exact dates vary each semester, but the typical time frames are listed below. It is the intern’s responsibility to submit their contract before the end of the Add/Drop Registration period. View current registration deadlines on the academic calendar.

Fall Interns Registration deadline - 1st week in September
Spring Interns Registration Deadline - Last week of January
Summer Interns Registration Deadline - 1st week of July

Evaluation Form Deadline:
Several weeks before the end of the internship, Internship Site Supervisors receive directions on completing a performance evaluation; the qualitative measures on this form comprise a part of the intern’s grade for their internship experience. This form needs to be completed before the end of the academic semester in order for interns to receive a grade (and credit) for their experience.

Deadline: End of academic semester
Fall Interns Evaluation Deadline - 2nd week in December

Spring Interns Evaluation Deadline - 2nd week of May

Summer Interns Evaluation Deadline - 1st week of August

Occasionally issues arise about expectations regarding an intern or internship experience. Please contact our office at 914-251-6370 should you have any questions. Any issues relating to an intern may be directed to Jeffrey Arroyo
Experiential Education Coordinator/Career Counselor at jeffrey.arroyo@purchase.edu.