What is an Internship?
Internship: (noun) The position of a student or trainee who works in an organization, sometimes without pay, in order to gain work experience or satisfy requirements for a qualification. An internship is supervised by a faculty member. This defining characteristic differentiates between an off-campus job/work experience and an internship.
Internships are learning and work experiences that enable students to gain hands-on experience in a particular field. Such experiences provide students with an opportunity to reaffirm their choice of major, gain relevant experience in their field of choice, and set themselves apart from others by having unique learning experiences beyond the classroom. An internship can be associated with the university and university courses (where students might receive course credit), but an internship can also take place independent of school, such as working for a private/public companies related to your major under the supervision of an SCSU faculty member. Many students pursue summer internships while others are able to work at their internship position while working or taking classes full/part-time. Some internships pay their interns and others do not; regardless, an internship is a valuable experience.