Internships are a great way to complete the Augsburg Experience. Students can work with an organization or business, either locally or globally, for credit or not-for-credit. Students should work with their academic advisor, in tandem with the Strommen Center or the Center for Global Education and Experience, to identify the best internship for their needs and interests. Augsburg maintains partnerships with many key institutions in the Twin Cities and further afield.
Here are some of the academic guidelines to discuss with your faculty advisor:
Internships for Credit
An internship should be carefully planned. At the beginning of the experience, the student should identify some intentional, self-designed academic and personal learning objectives to be approved by their faculty supervisor (ordinarily a full-time faculty member in the department in which the student wishes to earn the credit.) Students and their faculty supervisor should consult with the Strommen Center for Meaningful Work for assistance and resources that reflect good practices for experiential learning. Internships that are required as part of immersion programs, such as the HECUA program or the Washington Center Program, will also fulfill the Augsburg Experience requirement.
See the Internship Registration Guide to learn how to register for an internship on the Strommen Center website.
Prior to the semester in which the student wishes to complete the internship, he or she should:
- Identify the off-campus site (some on-campus internships may qualify if there is a clear linkage to off-campus people, organizations, and/or communities).
- Make contact with the internship supervisor on-site and establish a schedule. Typically, a minimum of 160 hours should be devoted to the internship over an academic term(s) for 4 course credits, and 80 hours for 2 course credits.
- Enroll in a 399 internship in the student’s department or program. The faculty supervisor and the director or internship coordinator at the Strommen Center will sign off on the student registration. (Students should use the Internship Registration Form).
- Begin to identify the learning objectives for the experience, usually in dialogue with the faculty and site supervisor.
At the start of the internship, a student should discuss the following guidelines with their faculty supervisor:
- Students should complete a Learning Goals Form outlining learning goals, strategies, and evaluation methods. The learning agreement plan should be completed and approved by the faculty supervisor and the internship site supervisor within the first 3 weeks of starting the internship.
- Students should enroll in their department’s internship seminar (if one exists) or meet with their faculty supervisor a minimum of three times over the course of the internship.
- Students will work with their faculty supervisor to determine the types of assignments they will complete that will clearly demonstrate the relationship of the planned learning outcomes with the experiential activities and shows reflection on the experience. Best practices and suggestions are available from Strommen Center.
- The student and their site supervisor will complete evaluations at the completion of the internship.
- The faculty supervisor will submit a grade to the Registrar’s Office. The successful completion of the academic component will indicate fulfillment of te Augsburg Experience.
Non-Credit Internships (0-credit; register for AUG EX3)
Students may also opt to complete a non-credit bearing internship. In order for the internship to fulfill the Augsburg Experience requirement (and be transcripted), the student should work directly with the Strommen Center to complete the required learning goals and reflection assignments. The Strommen Center will direct the student to enroll in the 0-credit option, AUG EX3.
See the Internship Registration Guide to learn how to register for the 0-credit Augsburg Experience internship on the Strommen Center website.