Internships : Communication : UMass Amherst

Complement Your Communication Coursework with Hands-On Experience

The Department of Communication urges its students to complete at least one internship during their undergraduate careers. Sixty-four percent of our recent graduating seniors report participating in an internship experience. Internships allow you to try out a new field, gain valuable skills, network with professionals in your field, and apply what you are learning in the classroom to real-life settings. Communication majors have interned in such diverse fields as media programming, public interest research, TV news, advertising, public relations, education, corporate management, sales, government, newspapers, magazines, nonprofits, and film production.

Please note that internships do not count for Communication credit.

The Academic Piece

You’ll work this out with your Faculty Sponsor (see below). Typically, an internship requires that you keep a journal “on the job,” which you’ll use to write a paper that summarizes your experiences, evaluates them, and relates them to one or more courses that you have already taken or will take immediately after the internship.

Timing

You can do an internship (UMass 298Y: Practicum) in any session: fall, spring, winter (January), or summer. During summer or winter sessions, you pay for the credits through University Without Walls (UWW).

Eligibility

To be eligible for an internship, you must have completed at least 45 credits and have a minimum GPA of 2.0.

Credit

You can earn as few as 1 to as many as 18, depending on the hours you put into the internship each week. One credit for every 40 hours of work is typical. These credits are graded as pass/fail and are treated as elective—they do not fulfill any department requirements (there are no exceptions to this rule). No more than 18 credits can be applied toward graduation, regardless of how many internships you complete.

Scholarships for Internships

The department offers the Elaine E. Nord Internship Fund for Creative Communications, a funding opportunity for Comm students planning to do summer internships. In addition, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences offers several scholarships that support students doing internships. Please check the department's Scholarships page for more information about these funding opportunities and their deadlines.

How to Apply for an Internship: 4 Steps

Step 1—Planning

Begin planning at least one semester in advance so that you have time to research opportunities, put in applications, and hear back from employers.

Step 2—Find an internship

Many internships are posted on UMass Handshake. You should also keep an eye on highlighted internships in the Comm Connection.

To have an in-depth conversation about finding internships, make an appointment with an SBS Career Advisor!

Step 3—Find a Faculty Sponsor (for credited internships)

Securing a Faculty Sponsor is your responsibility. We recommend that you approach faculty whom you know from your classes or activities. You can find this information yourself by searching the directory. You and your Faculty Sponsor will decide on the nature, requirements, and due date of the internship-related academic project that you'll be preparing for them.

Step 4—Register for the internship (for credited internships)

Once you have been offered an internship placement and have defined the academic project with your Faculty Sponsor, you'll need to complete the registration process by filling out an "Experiential Learning Request" on SPIRE. You can find this under your Academics tile, then Forms and Academic Requests.