This course, Environ 397: Academic Foundations for Environmental Internships, provides students with an academic foundation for completing an experiential learning opportunity that advances their overall undergraduate education. It ensures that students commencing a professional internship have established a clear research agenda associated with that work and have built in a strong academic component that draws the internship experience into their course of study.

This academic foundations course must be taken the term before starting the internship. This course is only offered in the fall and winter terms, so students should plan their course selections accordingly. Students do NOT need to secure an internship before enrolling in this course.

This course is intended as a 1-credit prerequisite to the existing 3-credit PitE internship course, ENVIRON 398. In providing a means for students to translate vaguely defined interests into real-world opportunities for research and/or employment, the course may prove valuable to a broader group of students preparing for a variety of post-undergraduate options.

Please visit the LSA Course Guide for more information about Environ 397.

**Environ 397 DOES NOT meet the PitE Social Science Core requirement.

Students must enroll in Environ 398 for 3 credits to earn academic credit for an internship. 

Finding an Internship

While PitE can help students with their internship search, it is the student's responsibility for researching and securing an internship. Internships do not necessarily have to be in Ann Arbor. In fact, many students complete internships away from campus: some even intern abroad! Declared students should make an appointment to see Jason Duvall for information and resources for finding an internship.

Internships must meet the following criteria:

1. Be environmentally-oriented,
2. Involve at least 160 hours of work during a period of at least 4 weeks,
3. Allow students to interact with multiple stakeholder groups (e.g. policy makers, researchers, community volunteers, etc.), and
4. Be approved by the Program Coordinator before starting the internship

Pre-Requisites: Prior to enrolling in Environ 398, students must:

1. Be a declared PitE Concentrator or minor.
2. Have completed at least two terms of study at the University of Michigan or equivalent campus.
3. Be in good academic standing, including a minimum 2.0 G.P.A.
4. Have completed the 1-credit Academic Foundations for Internships course PRIOR to starting an internship. This course, Environ 397, is offered during the fall and winter terms only, so students interested in starting a summer internship will need to plan according to take this course. This course was listed as Environ 300.022 in Winter 2011 and Environ 302.011 in Fall 2011.
5. Have secured a pre-approved internship.
6. Have commitment from a faculty advisor prior to starting the internship.
7. Submit the 398 course syllabus and internship contract to Kimberly Smith (ksmithz@umich.edu).
8. Receive an override to enroll in Environ 398. 

Students will need to identify an instructor who will help them create the academic framework around the internship and evaluate this academic work for a grade at the end of the internship. This instructor is known as the Faculty Advisor. The faculty advisor should be familiar with the field of study through which the student is interning, and should be a PitE faculty associate, lecturer or joint faculty member. GSIs cannot serve as Faculty Advisors for Environ 398. The faculty advisor issues the grade for Environ 398.

When approaching an instructor about possibly being a faculty advisor, be prepared to answer these questions:

• What is your internship about, and what interests you about this internship?
• Why are you doing this internship and what do you hope to gain from it?

These forms must be completed in order to enroll in Environ 398:

1. Submit the Statement of Understanding (Word doc.)

Before starting the internship, students must complete and submit this form to Kimberly Smith via email or in the PitE office.

2. Complete the Internship Contract (Word doc.)

Once the student has secured an internship, the student must complete the Environ 398 Internship Contract with his/her Internship Supervisor. This is an agreement that outlines the student's responsibilities and how his/her work contributes to the overall goal of the organization. The student and Internship Supervisor must also agree on what type of supervision will be provided.

3. Complete the Course Syllabus (Word doc.)

After contacting a potential faculty advisor, the student must meet with the advisor to complete the Environ 398 Course Syllabus. The student will outline his/her objective for completing the internship, and explain how this experience meets academic goals. Together, the student and faculty advisor will agree on the academic requirements (e.g. paper topics, format, due date).

All three forms are required for approval, and must be submitted to the PitE Office (or emailed to ksmithz@umich.edu) BEFORE starting the internship.
Internships NOT approved prior to starting them are not eligible for credit.

Communicate with your Faculty Advisor
Students should also keep in regular contact with their faculty advisors throughout the duration of the internship. Students can use email, telephone, skype and even chat to keep in touch, when in person meetings are not possible. Students should also be submitting journal entries and/or field notes to their faculty advisor according to the timelines outlined in the Environ 398 Course Syllabus. Faculty advisors are available to provide feedback on the academic work, and can often provide feedback on the norms of working in a particular industry. 

Mid-term and Final Evaluations
PitE seeks feedback from internship supervisors about student interns. Students must give their internship supervisor a copy the mid-term evaluation and  final evaluation form at the beginning of the internship. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that these evaluations are returned to PitE by the deadlines outlined below.  These evaluations are factored into the student's grade for Environ 398, and must be submitted in order to receive a passing grade.

Contact PitE Regarding Any Changes to Your Internship
It is the student's responsibility to contact the practical experience coordinator immediately if the student encounters any significant changes in communication, supervision or assigned tasks while on the internship. Any significant changes could either enhance the experience, or render the internship ineligible to meet practical experience requirement.  

Evaluations
Students should remind their internship supervisor to complete and submit their final evaluations to the PitE office at least 3 weeks before the end of the internship. 

Student Summary (Word Doc.)
Students should submit their Student Summary Form to the PitE office by the date outlined below. PitE reviews these summary forms in order to better advise students on internships for the next year, and make improvements to the internship program.

Submitting Academic Work
Students should submit their final work to the PitE Practical Experience Coordinator. Once this work and any remaining work has been received, this will be sent to the faculty advisor for final grading. 

Preparing your Presentation
Students should be preparing materials for the final presentation. All Environ 398 enrollees will give a 10-minute presentation at the Internship Symposium in October 2012. 

This course is graded on a Pass/Fail (P/F) basis. A passing grade will be awarded only upon successful performance and timely submission of the: