Internship Guidelines for Employers

Students participate in a variety of internship options, including standard academic internships, variable credit internships, and transcript notation internships. 

An academic internship is a semester-long, supervised experience offering academic credit and substantive work experience that supports the student’s academic and career goals. We collaborate with the College of Business, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, and the Graduate School to ensure that internships provide short-term projects, research and/or leadership development programs in professional work settings.

Some students, such as student athletes, international students, etc., often face limitations or demanding academic schedules during each semester but still seek opportunities to grow and learn. Variable credit internships require reduced hour commitments than the standard academic credit internship and, with that, can be completed during an academic semester or over a break between semesters or academic years. 

As an internship site, you can offer substantive work experience that supports students’ academic and career goals. If you do not yet have an established internship program or you would like to consider ways to improve your current program, please contact our team. 

Internship Compensation Breakdown

• Internships can be paid or unpaid, and for academic credit or noncredit.
• Compensation is determined by the employer; academic credit approval is determined by Bryant University.
• Paid interns must be paid via a W2. Cash payment is prohibited.
• Students often seek academic credit for their internships even if the internship is paid. If you do not wish for your internship to be credit-optional, you’ll have an opportunity to indicate this within the internship posting (instructions for posting are in the page below).
• If the internship is unpaid, it should qualify for academic credit (criteria described below), students will likely seek academic credit for an unpaid internship. Otherwise, it is considered a volunteer position, which should support a cause for the betterment of society.

We encourage you to offer compensation, as it attracts more qualified candidates and aids student with costs related to the internship. If your organization is unable to offer a regular wage, consider a stipend to assist with parking fees, mileage, meals, summer tuition fees, etc.

Compensation varies based on the industry and the skill level required for the position.

• Salary.com

Standard Academic Credit Approval Process

Student Eligibility: Students must have completed a minimum of 60 credits and meet the academic requirements established by the academic department to earn three course credits.

Department Approval: (Coordinated by the Amica Center's Experiential Education team) The appropriate Academic Department Chair reviews the internship description (criteria below) to determine approval as a 3-credit elective course within a concentration, minor or degree area of study.

Faculty Supervisor: If approved, a professor within the appropriate department assesses the student’s learning based on a learning agreement he/she provides to the student, and the employer’s mid-semester and final performance evaluations completed during the internship period.

• Internship Site Supervisor documentation: The student provides the on-site supervisor a schedule form to determine work hours. Amica Center Experiential Education team members send mid-semester and final semester evaluations directly to internship supervisors to complete and send back at the respective times during the internship.

Academic Internship Criteria: This information will be requested for students seeking academic credit for an internship.

• Detailed description of tasks and responsibilities
  • Tasks must focus primarily on the academic area of study for which the student is seeking credit (i.e. accounting, marketing, legal studies, psychology, etc.)
• Approximate hours per week and approximate start/end dates. Must be a minimum of 120 hours throughout 10-12 weeks during the corresponding academic semester:
  • Fall (late August/September – mid-December); part time
  • Spring (late January/February – mid-May); part time
  • Summer (May – August); may be full time (we do not recommend this if the internship is unpaid)
• Clerical tasks such as filing and greeting clients may not exceed 20% of the total hours.
• Must include training, supervision and evaluation. Intern’s supervisor must have knowledge of and experience in the job function (i.e. a marketing intern should be supervised by a marketing professional).
• Interns are not permitted to work out of a residence.
• If any work is to be completed remotely, please note the percentage of time this is expected. To maximize student learning and exposure to the organization, it is ideal for internships take place 100% on-site. Typically, remote work during an internship should not exceed 20% of the intern’s total hours.
• If you are related to the student, another individual must be responsible for supervising the experience, and completing the mid and final semester evaluations. Please provide that person’s name, phone number and email address.
• If the intern has previously worked with your organization (i.e. part time job or internship), an additional description outlining the student’s previous/current tasks is required. In order for the proposed academic internship to qualify for academic credit, these descriptions need to demonstrate a significant level of growth in learning and/or responsibilities during the semester for which the student is receiving academic credit.

Variable Credit/Transcript Notation Approval Process

Students should schedule an Experiential Education appointment with the Amica Center through Handshake to discuss variable credit or transcript notation internship approval processes. Please note, these internships cannot be retroactive and students must process the internship through the Amica Center first. 

Employers should contact Amy Steere (asteers@bryant.edu) and/or Patricia Miernicki (pmiernic@bryant.edu) if interested in learning more or recruiting Bryant students for variable credit internships.