1. What does ITR stand for/What is ITR?
ITR is the Internship Program that is facilitated through the Center for Career and Experiential Education where students have the opportunity to gain academic credit (through free elective credits) for completing an internship. |
2. What qualifies as an internship?
An opportunity is considered an internship when it provides students with intentional learning objectives that are structured into the experience and supervised by a professional with relevant and related background in the field. Furthermore, internships promote a student's academic, career, and/or personal development as well as industry related and soft skill development. Elements of an internship include learning objectives, observation, reflection, and evaluation. |
3. What does my internship Supervisor have to provide CCEE?
In order for your internship to be approved through the ITR Internship Program, your supervisor will need to complete the Internship Description Form. This form asks specific questions about your internship that allows your Career Education Specialist (CES) to evaluate if your internship opportunity qualifies for the ITR Internship Program. Once enrolled in the ITR Internship Program, your supervisor will have the additional responsibilities of submitting a mid-term and final evaluation. For more information on the guidelines to an internship, please visit the Employer section of our website. |
4. What if I don’t meet the GPA requirement for my major?
If you do not meet the GPA requirement for your major, you will have to retrieve approval from the department chair of your academic college and petition for approval. If the department chair agrees to having you participate in the ITR Internship Program, they need to provide a letter of support to your Career Education Specialist (CES). |
5. What if I have below 60 credits?
If you have a significant amount of credits below 60 then you will be unable to participate in the ITR Internship Program. However, if you are a few credits below 60, then you may reach out to your Career Education Specialist (CES) to discuss this with them. These will be processed on a case-by-case basis. |
6. What if I will have a total of 60 credits by the end of the current semester but I just don’t have them now?
If you currently do not have 60 credits but will by the end of the semester, then we process students assuming as if they will pass all of their classes and earn credit for those classes to reach/surpass 60. However, if students are not able to obtain those credits at the end of the semester then we have the right to deny you participation within the ITR Internship Program. |
7. What if I’m not within good academic and/or social standing at URI?
If you are not within good academic and/or social standing you may initiate a conversation with your Career Education Specialist (CES) to explain the specifics of your situation. Decisions for participation within the program will be made on a case-by-case basis. |
8. What if my major doesn't offer free elective credits?
Majors that do not have free electives available and cannot (typically) participate in ITR include the following:
- Business:All students in the College of Business should contact Lynne Finnegan, Experiential Education Coordinator.
- Kinesiology: Experiential learning experiences are built into the curriculum. Students should contact Courtney Mackey Wilbur for more information.
- Pharmacy: Experiential learning opportunities are built into the curriculum. Please contact Brett Feret for more information.
- Education:All students should speak with their faculty advisor prior to considering ITR credit
- Engineering:All students should speak with their faculty advisor prior to considering ITR credit
- Textile, Merchandising & Design (TMD):All students should speak with their faculty advisor prior to considering ITR credit
- Music Education: Experiential learning experiences are integral to the curriculum. Students should contact Audrey Cardany for more information.
- Music Therapy: Experiential learning experiences are integral to the curriculum. Students should contact Nicole O'Malley for more information.
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9. Do I need to find an internship on my own?
The ITR Internship Program does not serve as a placement program. In other words, we do not match you to an internship site based upon your preferences, nor do we find an internship for you. We are more than happy to provide you internship search strategies to assist you with your search. Internship Search resources can be found on Career Resources: A-Z and Career Resources: By Major. You can also Meet with a Career Education Specialist for assistance.
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10. What internships are available for students?
There are many internships available for students, regardless of the time of year. Our first recommendation for searching for internships would be via Handshake, URI’s internship, job, and volunteer opportunity database. Employers who post on Handshake are specifically looking to hire URI students and graduates since the database is only accessible to those students.
Additional Internship Search resources can be found on Career Resources: A-Z and Career Resources: By Major. You can also Meet with a Career Education Specialist for assistance.
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11. What if I found an internship on my own (aka: not through Handshake, or a place a URI student has not been to in the past)?
This is great! As you progress through the ITR Internship Program step-by-step process, CCEE will need to review your internship opportunity to determine if it qualifies for our ITR program. To do so, you will want to make sure your Internship Supervisor is descriptive about your internship experience within the Internship Description Form that they are required to complete. |
12. What is the easiest way to find an internship?
The easiest way to find an internship depends on your definition of easy. You can easily find internship opportunities posted online, however, those may be more competitive since you do not have a point of contact there. If you begin to network with people in your network (including your family, professors, peers, professionals, etc.), it may be easier to discover and obtain an opportunity because you have a connection with someone. For more information on the benefits of networking, please review our networking module. However, your connection with someone doesn’t guarantee that you will receive an internship.
Additional Internship Search resources can be found on Career Resources: A-Z and Career Resources: By Major. You can also Meet with a Career Education Specialist for assistance.
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13. What is the deadline for me to enroll in ITR?
The deadline to enroll in ITR is ideally a week before the start of the semester which will guarantee your spot within our ITR Internship Program. However, we understand that life happens and can make some accommodations for registering after the deadline, but this does not mean we can guarantee you a spot within the program. |
14. Do ITR 302 and ITR 304 have to be taken at the same time?
Yes. For students completing ITR a second or third-time, ITR 304 does not need to be completed again. |
15. Can I take ITR more than once?
You can take ITR more than once but you cannot accumulate more than a total of 24 ITR credits, which includes ITR 304, ITR 302, and ITR 300 classes. In addition, if you are attempting to gain academic credit for a second internship, you will not have to repeat and take ITR 304, you will only take ITR 302. |
16. What does the internship seminar entail?
The Internship Seminar (ITR 304), is an asynchronous online course through Brightspace meant to assist you with processing your internship and providing you with the career development you need to progress through the internship and beyond. The weekly lessons cover a variety of career and professional development topics: Resume, Networking, Ethics, Workplace Culture, and much more. |
17. Do I have to pay extra for ITR credit?
During the fall and spring semesters, ITR credit costs the same tuition amount as your other class credit. In the summer, ITR credit is reduced tuition! The summer tuition amount can be found on the URI Summer Sessions website. . |
18. What is the minimum and maximum amount of ITR credits I can take in one semester?
The minimum amount of credits is 6: 3 credits for ITR 302: Field Experience (your hours working in your internship) + 3 credits for ITR 304: Internship Seminar. The maximum amount of credits is 15: 12 credits for ITR 302 + 3 credits for ITR 304. |
19. Can I use an internship I’ve done in the past and apply it towards ITR now?
No. Credit for an internship cannot be applied retroactively and has to be completed during the semester the student is enrolled for. |
20. Can I use my current full-time or part-time job towards ITR?
All students are strongly encouraged to find an internship position within their career field of interest. Ideally this position will be a new opportunity for the student in order to enhance their resume, networking contacts, and gain a greater learning experience. However, this may not be possible for some students, such as students who work full time and students responsible for financially supporting themselves. In that case, a student may be eligible to use a new or existing full time (FT) or part time (PT) job for internship credit, if the following is met:
- The FT or PT position must already be a quality (academic credit worthy) learning or work experience (like any other internship)
- The student must be supervised by a professional in the internship organization (like any other internship)
- Supervisor must be amenable to completing 3 required forms: Internship Description Form, Midterm Evaluation, Final Evaluation (like any other internship)
- If the student is not new to the position, the student must have an additional project, task, opportunity or learning experience added to their regular/existing responsibilities
- The position is not eligible if the student has already earned internship credit for it in a previous semester (ITR or other credit).
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21. What level courses does ITR satisfy?
ITR satisfies 300-level free electives. |
22. Can I do ITR in the Summer?
Yes! ITR is offered throughout the Summer semester and is a great way for any student to catch up on credits, or get ahead in their credit requirements for graduation. |
23. Can I do the same internship twice and receive credit for it both times?
All students are also strongly encouraged to gain a new experience at a new placement site to increase your networking opportunities, experiences, and resume content. The only way a student may return to the same placement site and still earn academic credit is if some or all of the work differs from the previous experience. This policy applies even if the student did not earn ITR credit for the previous internship (or for the future internship). |
24. Can I do a paid internship and still receive academic credit?
Yes! This is the best of both worlds. We prefer to see all students in a paid internship! |
25. My internship supervisor/agency has provided me with an Affiliation Agreement that needs to be signed by URI. What do I need to do?
There are some internship agencies that require URI to complete an Affiliation Agreement, or sometimes referred to as an Internship Agreement. If this is required, please send this to your Career Education Specialist (CES) as soon as possible.
URI’s Office of General Counsel are the only individuals on campus who can sign these documents, and this can take up to 30 days for processing. It’s not guaranteed that an agreement can be accepted by URI. We suggest having other potential internship options lined up. |
26. My Supervisor is asking for a Letter of Academic/Credit Verification. How can I get that?
Students’ Career Education Specialist (CES) can provide this for any student completing ITR. Students should contact their CES and provide how many hours of Field Experience credits (ITR 302) they will be plan on completing. |
27.My internship is 30 hours a week. Do I have to do the exact amount of credits that match those hours?
We suggest that students should select the amount of field experience credits needed for the amount of free electives you need to satisfy, not the amount of hours your internship is requiring you to work. For instance, just because your internship is requiring you to work 30 hours a week doesn’t mean you have to complete 11 credits of field experience. If you only need 5 credits work of field experience, that’s okay. You can still work more hours than the credits you are enrolling for.
Alternatively, students need to participate in their internship through the entirety of the semester. If students complete all of their required hours in the first few weeks of your internship, they are still required to participate in the internship for the remainder of the semester.
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28. How do I create a resume?
Have a Career Education Specialist (CES) review your resume! Meet with a CES |
29. Do I need a cover letter when I apply for internships?
Have a Career Education Specialist (CES) review your resume! Meet with a CES |
30. Can I do ITR internationally?
Not through the CCEE. However, the International Center does offer ITR credit abroad. Please visit their website for more information. |
31. What if my internship dates fall outside of the dates of the semester?
This might vary on a case-by-case basis. Usually, we require all internships begins and/or ends within two (2) weeks of the ITR semester. |
