Community Service & Internship

As Whitman students, you are required to apply your management skills and knowledge outside the classroom, completing both community service and at least one internship.

What are the requirements?

Community Service
Students are required to apply their management skills and knowledge to community problems through a volunteer experience. This is satisfied through completing a course with a service learning component, an internship at a public or non-profit agency, or through the Community Service Learning Agreement (zero-credit option). When completing the requirement through the zero-credit option, students must have the learning agreement approved at the start of the project and must complete a minimum of 35 hours on-site.

Internship
Students must have at least one experience, after they acquire junior standing, consisting of substantive and supervised work (paid or unpaid) that complements their academic program. This is accomplished through completing a course that requires experiential learning, an independent study for experience credit with a professor, or an Internship Learning Agreement (zero-credit option). Students utilizing the zero-credit option must complete and submit the Internship Learning Agreement at the start of the internship and complete a minimum of 35 hours on-site.

Where can I find more information on obtaining the experience?

Community Service
The University's Mary Annshaw Center for Public and Community Service (CPCS) is located in Room 237 of the Schine Student Center. CPCS staff has information about volunteer opportunities in a wide variety of local settings, and works to create successful community partnerships through carefully matching students' interests and community needs. Students may also fulfill the Community Service Requirement through volunteering in their own community (using the Community Service Learning Agreement).

Internship
The Whitman Career Center (located at 115 Whitman) and the University Center for Career Services (located at 235 Schine) have information about internship opportunities. You can meet with a career advisor to discuss job and internship search strategies, as well as resume and cover letter writing. They offer many services and resources including coordination for local and national internships, access to OrangeLink (a web-accessible system used to publicize postings, recruiting events and related activities), access to alumni and various workshops.

How do I complete the requirements through a zero credit Learning Agreement?

• Secure the experience utilizing the methods mentioned above;
• Complete and submit the appropriate learning agreement after it has been signed by your site supervisor at the start of your community service project/internship;
• Prepare the deliverables as noted on the Learning Agreement (journal, portfolio of materials, and 10-page paper); and
• Submit your deliverables within one month of completing the experience;

Students who complete their experience over the summer must submit deliverables by the end of September.

How can I receive academic credit for my internship?

If you plan to receive academic credit, the procedure is as follows:

1. Make arrangements to receive experience credit for your internship with a full-time faculty member before you begin your project.
2. Print an Internship Proposal/Agreement and complete it with the faculty member. Register for the course as a BUA 270 (freshman and sophomores) or BUA 470 (juniors and seniors). (Note: Only BUA 470, completed by juniors and seniors, can be used towards your management electives and to fulfill the internship requirement)
3. Obtain the signatures of the faculty member and the chair of the department.
4. Return the completed form to the Undergraduate Office to obtain the approval of the Assistant Dean.

1. If approved, the Undergraduate Office will send the form to the registrar for processing, where it will be added to your schedule.

Internships can be used as a free elective or management elective. A maximum of three credits of internship or independent study can be used as a management elective. Students dually enrolled with Newhouse cannot count internships taken for credit towards their course requirements.