Step 2 - Approval, Registration, and Preparation

Approval

1. Visit the TCNJ Internship Information Page and understand the goals and requirements of internship. In particular, students must understand that internship is an applied experience in that "the student must apply what she/he has learned in the classroom."
   
   
2. Write a statement indicating how you would apply your classroom learning. Send the statement to the internship supervisor by e-mail. In addition, the CS department internship must meet the overall requirements.
   
   
3. Once your statement is approved by the internship supervisor, write a proposal following the requirements under "The Internship Contract" again on the TCNJ Internship Information Page (at this point, no fixed format is provided). Also in your proposal, include the contact information of the on-site professional person (e-mail, phone, street address, etc.). Although this may change, we currently require 200 hours of work (roughly 10 to 14 hours per week if taken during a 15-week semester or 18 to 25 days if worked full time during the summer), corresponding to the new standard internship unit of 4 semester hours. When you complete your proposal, send it to the internship supervisor by e-mail.

   Notes on goals and evaluation: In your proposal, identify the learning goals you expect to accomplish. Then, for each goal, identify criteria with which both you and the supervisor can confirm your accomplishment. For example, one might identify a goal: design, manage the implementation of, and evaluate the performance of a local area network, applying the knowledge learned in a Networks course. Then, evaluation criteria may include:

   1. design documents,
   2. record of implementation management,
   3. evaluation documents clearly indicating that the design and management were accomplished satisfactorily, and
   4. written evaluation of the project by the on-site professional supervisor.
   
   Depending on your past experience, this part might be difficult. But this is the kind of ability you need when you work in the real world, including your internship experience. Writing up this part of proposal may take several revisions. Work closely with the supervisor.

   By this time, you must have subscribed to the CS internship list (see the "Setup" stage above).

   [Proposal requirements checklist]

Registration

Once your proposal is approved by the supervisor, bring

1. the proposal, and
2. a completed internship registration form (available on-line) to the supervisor.

For practical reasons (e.g., cost), many students register their summer work experience during the following fall semester (however, note that to take CSC399 as the fifth course, students must satisfy certain requirements including relatively high GPA). In this case, students work on their paper and presentation from the summer through the fall semester. However, this suggests that the scheduled paper/presentation preparation guidance will be provided after students finished working. To avoid potential drawbacks caused by this time difference, the students must take initiative to assure everything they would need to accomplish while they are actually working.

Preparation

Download the evaluation form (Word template, PDF). Fill in the content goals and criteria based on the proposal. Send the evaluation form to the faculty supervisor.