Philip Merrill College of Journalism | University of Maryland

JOUR 399 Supervised Internship
Fall 2009

Penny Bender Fuchs
Director of Career Placement and Professional Development
3116 Journalism Bldg.
Phone: 301-405-2796
Fax: 301-314-9166
pfuchs@jmail.umd.edu

This is a one-credit course mandatory for the completion of a journalism degree. Registration for this course requires the completion of JOUR 320 or JOUR 360 with a C or better. It also requires a signed internship proposal form and a meeting with Mrs. Fuchs before the end of the add/drop period.

Course Requirements

At least 135 hours of service in an approved internship that lasts a minimum of 10 weeks. Signed timesheets are due Friday, Oct. 23 and Friday, Dec. 4.
Two positive job evaluations from job site supervisors.
Participation in a class blog on Blackboard. (PLease be sure your e-mail address is up to date in the university system. Much of our communication will be through e-mail.)
A resume packet, consisting of a resume, a cover letter and 12 examples of work done on this internship only. Students must submit a rough draft of the resume and cover letter by e-mail by Oct. 23. The final, edited version of the resume and cover letter, along with the work samples, are due on paper by Dec. 4.
Conference with instructor, in person or by telephone, between Oct. 23 and Dec. 4.

Grading

Resume packet, completion of 135 hours, on-site job evaluations and conference with instructor – 50 percent.
Class blog entries – 50 percent

Recording Your Hours:
Arrange your schedule -- including your start and end date -- with your employer before you begin the internship. Most internships require two free weekdays. Work must occur on the job site or on assignment. Work performed at home will not count toward hours of service. Students may begin recording their hours on the first day of the semester. All hours must be completed by Dec. 4. Timesheets are available on Blackboard in the Course Documents folder. Bring in, mail or fax the time sheet by Oct. 23 and Dec. 4. Be sure to total the hours and have your supervisor sign the form. You must have a minimum of 135 hours of service over 10 weeks to get credit for this class.

Evaluations by Job Site Supervisors:
Two evaluations will be sent directly to supervisors during the semester. Examples of these documents will be posted on Blackboard in the Course Documents folder. Supervisors are instructed to review the evaluations with students. Please take these comments seriously; the results of the evaluations are factored into students' grades. See Professional Demeanor below for additional information on performance and behavior on the job.

Participation in Class Blog:
Because JOUR 399 students meet only with the instructor, the blog will serve as our virtual classroom. Students will be required to check the blog regularly and post responses to topics raised by the instructor. Students should also read each other’s responses and are encouraged to respond to one another. The blog will be on Blackboard in the Assignments folder.

These topics are to be addressed in your blog entries:

Introduce us to your employer: Provide a description of the organization, including the type of medium and who owns it. (Is this a weekly newspaper, a Web site or a network affiliate, for instance?) Give the circulation, market size or unique visitors, and discuss the target audience. In a paragraph or two, tell us the history and the mission of this company. Entry due Wednesday, Sept. 16. (10 points)
Describe the personnel and the management: How many employees work there and who reports to whom? Note the diversity of the office in terms of race, gender and job type. You will likely need to get these facts from your employer. Entry due Friday, Sept. 25. (10 points)
What is a day like in your office? How do the deadlines work – describe the process of putting out the publication or getting the show on the air. Entry due Friday, Oct. 9. (5 points)
How did you get this internship and what is your role there? Describe the skills you've gained -- journalism skills as well as real-world skills, such as building relationships with supervisors, interacting with co-workers and managing work and school responsibilities.Entry due Friday, Oct. 23. (5 points)
What have you learned about the culture of the workplace and how professionals interact on the job? What surprised you? Entry due Friday, Nov. 6. (5 points)
Did you have a mentor? Did you cultivate relationships with supervisors and co-workers? How will these relationships help you in your career?Entry due Friday, Nov. 20. (5 points)
What advice would you offer your replacement? Entry due Friday, Dec. 4. (10 points)

You will rely on your own observations for your blog entries, but some answers will require research. You may interview and quote co-workers and supervisors, read histories posted on a company's Web site or another reliable source. However, your work should be your own. It must be clear to the reader where you got the information you cite. That means using attribution, just as you would in a news story. Credibility and integrity are hallmarks of what we do as journalists, so you must be stringent about crediting your sources. Not doing so leaves you open to charges of plagiarism. If you are uncertain what plagiarism is, the university's library system offers an excellent explanation: What is plagiarism?

Do not cite your blog entries in footnote style. The attribution should be in the body of the text, just like a news story.

A note about blogging: Blogs by their nature are more casual than academic papers and printed news columns. I encourage you to write in first person and to be creative but to also remember your journalism training. All your entries should be written professionally, in complete sentences, using AP style and should address the topics raised. Write with the same care you would an assignment to be handed in. Remember, this is about quality, not quantity, so avoid repetition and muddled writing.

This blog will be read by others in the class, and I may ask to make portions of what you write public later on, so be honest in your assessments but take great care with facts. Do not unfairly criticize your employer or co-workers or publish unsubstantiated information. A good rule of thumb is to assume nothing is private on the Internet. Never post anything on the Internet that could hurt you professionally and never post anything you couldn't say to your employer.

Grading Rubric. Your blog entries will be worth a total of 50 points, which will be posted on the grade book on Blackboard. Entries will be graded using the following criteria:

Entries that are engaging, entertaining and fun to read will get the best grades. These entries do not have to be long, but they must completely respond to the topic and give the reader a sense of the employer, the intern's role and the workplace culture. Information must be well-sourced, well-written and have virtually no punctuation, grammatical, spelling and style errors to get full credit. Great entries may include more than text (such as links, videos or pictures.)
Entries that answer the topic questions and are well-sourced but contain punctuation, grammatical, spelling and style errors will lose five to 10 of the total 50 points.
Entries that skim the surface and do not give enough insight into the workplace, are poorly written and lack facts and sources, have punctuation, grammatical, spelling and style errors will lose between 10 and 25 of the total 50 points.
Entries that fail to respond to the topics, include factual errors or unprofessional and/or offensive material may lose all 50 points. Material that is lifted or paraphrased from other Web sites or sources without attribution will result in an F in the class and a charge of academic dishonesty that will be forwarded to the university.
Late entries will receive, at most, half the point value. Points will still be deducted for problems noted above.

Resume packets:
A resume packet will consist of a cover letter, a resume and a packet of clips or other examples of work. A minimum of 12 clips, URLS or other examples must be turned in.

Resumes and cover letters

Oct. 23.

resume-writing tips

example 1

example 2

cover letter-writing tips

example of a good cover letter

Clip packets for writers and editors: A clip packet should include stories you have written, examples of copy editing, page layout or graphics you have done on your internship. (Stories without bylines will be considered on a case-by-case basis.) Fancy binders or folders are not necessary. Simply photocopy your work neatly on 8.5-by-11 or 11-by-17 sheets. The Web site also offers a tip sheet for putting together a successful clip packet.

URLs for online reporters, producers, photographers and editors: Students working at online news sites are welcome to send by e-mail links to their work. Examples of work include stories you have written or copy-edited and posted with headlines, audio slide shows and/or pictures and videos you have shot. Students also can receive credit for monitoring discussions and creating interactive materials. Be sure to indicate in the text of the e-mail what you contributed to the post if the Web page does not have your byline.

Portfolios or logs for broadcasters: Students may submit resume tapes, audiotapes of news reports or copies of scripts you have written. Because broadcast interns seldom get on-air experience, I will also accept a detailed log of your activities. Describe your assignments in a paragraph (one paragraph for each sample -- so 12 paragraphs in all.) Explain what you did, how long it took you and how it contributed to the production of news. Examples of things that can be logged include research and interviews for prospective stories, logging tapes, going out with crews to cover spot news, running camera and other technical and production tasks. Keep notes throughout your internship so you can provide a detailed summary at the end.

**Logs may also be prepared by print students working for weekly or monthly publications, where the opportunities for clips are less frequent.**

Please note -- work samples are a crucial part of your professional education and demonstrate your efforts on your internship. They are mandatory; failure to turn in 12 work samples by the due date could result in failing the course.

Feedback on work samples will be provided. I encourage you to pick up your work after grades are posted.

Conference with internship coordinator:
This is mandatory and should occur between Oct. 23 and Dec. 4. Please e-mail me to arrange this appointment. Do not wait until the end of the semester to schedule – I may not be available due to the large number of students I see. These meetings typically take 15 minutes, sometimes longer if you have many questions or if there are problems with your internship. Punctuality is crucial in the professional world. Missed appointments may not be rescheduled. If you are more than 10 minutes late, I consider it a missed appointment. A missed appointment will result in a three-point deduction from your final grade. To cancel or reschedule an appointment, e-mail and/or call me at least a few hours ahead of time. If you are having trouble parking, have overslept, got out of class late, etc., and you know you will be five or 10 minutes late, it is your responsibility to call and let me know.

Assessment Requirement:
Students are required to fill out an online survey on their internship experience. The survey will be posted on Blackboard (in the Assignments folder) by midsemester. Participation in this survey is mandatory and is required by the university and the college's accreditation board as part of our curriculum assessment. The survey must be filled out by the last day of the summer session. Answers on the survey will not affect a student's grade. However, students who do not fill out the survey will not be awarded a grade in the class.

Professional Demeanor:
By enrolling in this class, you are entering the professional world of journalism and serving as emissaries of the college and the university. As such, you are expected to act with maturity and professionalism. Failing to meet professional standards in appearance, performance and attitude may cost you the job and result in an F in this course. Unacceptable behavior on the job includes disrespectful or improper communication with co-workers, an uncooperative attitude, failure to perform required tasks and failure to report to work on time. Please note that employers make the decisions to hire and fire students, not the college. But an intern who is terminated before completing the 10-week, 135-hour course requirement will not pass JOUR 399.

Academic Integrity:
Along with certain rights, students also have the responsibility to behave honorably in an academic environment. Academic dishonesty, including cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty and plagiarism, will not be tolerated. Any abridgment of academic integrity standards will be referred directly to the dean and the university's Office of Judicial Affairs. Confirmation of such incidents can result in expulsion from the university. All students will be required to sign an academic integrity pledge at the beginning of the semester that will cover all assignments in the course.

Confidentiality Agreements:
Journalism is a competitive industry and some employers have strict policies regarding the release of proprietary or competitive information. It is not unusual for employers to require students to sign confidentiality agreements. All students in JOUR 399 must take care not to release sensitive information on the class blog or in communication with other interns. Examples of proprietary information may include news stories that have not yet been published or aired, details of new products or projects and internal company policies or staffing changes. If you are not sure what is considered proprietary at your workplace, be sure to ask your supervisor.

Equal Opportunity:
The University is an equal opportunity institution with respect to education and employment. The university's policies, programs and activities are in compliance with pertinent federal and state laws and regulations on nondiscrimination regarding race, color, religion, age, national original, sex, sexual orientation and handicap. On your internship site, if you perceive any problems related to the above or if you believe you have been the target for sexual or other forms of harassment, contact me or Associate Dean Olive Reid in 1117 JRN.

http://www.president.umd.edu/policies/vi100b.html

http://www.president.umd.edu/policies/docs/vi-120a.pdf