Schieffer School of Journalism

Credit vs. non-credit internships

Basically, there are two types of internships you can have while you are a student. You can do informal internships on your own, or you can do supervised internships through our internship program.

What’s the difference?

The informal internship. You can do these anytime, beginning your first day on campus. They are part-time paid or unpaid positions with local media, agencies, etc. You do these just to build your resume and the university is not at all involved. What you get out of these is valuable experience, a line on your resume, a professional recommendation, and a head start toward your next internship…but no academic credit.
A for-credit internship. These internships are administered through our internship director, Dr. Janice Wood. See Prerequisites for journalism internship credit to get a list of the requirements you must meet before you will be allowed to enroll in a for-credit internship. These requirements are to make sure you know enough about the field to get the most benefit from your internship. Internships must be approved in advance by Dr. Wood.

Prerequisites for journalism credit (JOUR 40451)

You must meet each of the following qualifications:

You must be a journalism major in one of four sequences: Advertising/Public Relations, News Editorial, Broadcast Journalism or International Communications.
You must have completed 75 University credit hours before being eligible to begin an internship for credit.
You must have overall GPA of 2.5 and a GPA of 2.5 in the major.
You must have completed at least three journalism skills courses.

Examples include:

Media Writing and Editing I and II Information Graphics
Ad/PR Copywriting and Production Media Analysis and Research, Reporting Broadcast News
Feature Writing Opinion Writing
(Other courses may also apply.)

Requirements for journalism internship credit (JOUR 40451)

The student must complete a minimum of 100 hours in approved internship practicum per hour of internship credit to be earned.
The student must be evaluated by a supervisor previously designated. Evaluation is necessary once during the summer term and twice during the fall and summer semesters.
The student must enroll for internship credit at the same time in which the work duties are being performed.
Assignments beyond the practical daily on-site work schedule include:
Completion of internship portfolio, which will consist of:
1. Brief description of organization in which internship was completed.
2. Brief description of assignments and responsibilities as an intern.
3. Samples of work done. All exhibits of work done must clearly indicate role that intern played in the production of the item exhibited.
4. Or it may be appropriate to write an essay on the work experience, (as determined and assigned by director).
Time Report Sheets (to be verified by your supervisor) and Daily Work Logs (on which to record your tasks).
Internship final grade is based on:
1. Supervisor’s final evaluation: 60%
2. Quality, thoroughness, professionalism, organization of portfolio: 20%
3. Meeting deadlines for course requirements and submitting all materials, as set by the director: 20%

Note: If exhibits provided in the portfolio do not clearly indicate precisely what role intern played in the production of each, the highest grade the portfolio can receive is a “C.”

Summer Internships

Many students choose to do their internships in the summer. If you want to do a summer internship, it’ll take a little advance planning on your part if you want to avoid paying extra summer tuition.

Most students can add an extra hour during the spring and not pay extra for it. But if you sign up for internship during the summer, you will pay for one hour’s credit.

You have two options for summer internships, credit wise – either sign up for JOUR 40451 Internship during the spring and take an I (Incomplete), or sign up during the summer.

You cannot sign up for Internship after you have completed your summer work. So if you’re interning during the summer, you either take the course in the spring and get an I, or you sign up during the summer. If you do your internship and try to sign up for it after you’ve completed your work – in the fall – your internship will not count.

If you have any questions about doing the summer internship, please see Dr. Janice Wood, internship director of the Schieffer School.

Expectations of organizations accepting interns

Intern will be supervised by a professional in the field in which the intern is completing an internship.
An individual within the organization agrees to assume responsibility for evaluating the intern at the middle and the close of the fall and spring semesters (once at the end of the summer term).
Please be aware that the intern must complete at least 100 hours of work at the place of internship to qualify for credit. Supervisor agrees to verify total number of hours worked during the semester.
Director of the TCU Journalism Internship program is Janice Wood. Office phone: (817) 257-7275; Fax: (817) 257-7322; Email: j.wood@tcu.edu.
Any comments, critiques, or observations about our internship program are most welcome. All such remarks help us to improve the program for the benefit of our students and for those professionals who so generously share their professional experience with the newcomers to the profession.