If you are interested in obtaining real-world experience in a profession before earning your undergraduate degree, an internship can be an important formative experience, and might well jump-start your career. Internships provide course credits for working in a local company, government branch, social service agency or other institution in the public or private sector. Some departments have a designated course in their course inventories for internships (typically at the 4000 level) in order to encourage their students to pursue such professional opportunities. Whether or not your department has such a course (see below for options), if you are interested in pursuing an internship you should begin discussing your plans with a faculty member in your major as much in advance of your intended internship semester as possible. It is recommended that internships not be taken before the junior year.

In an effort to provide students with an exceptional academic experience, the Honors College seeks to designate for Honors credit courses taught by some of the most rigorous faculty in the university. By the same token, students are encouraged to seek out challenging courses. Courses for which Honors credit is sought should be taught by full-time faculty. In special cases, students may request Honors credit for courses taught by adjunct faculty. The same policy holds for designation of professors to mentor Honors internships and theses. Requests and related questions may be addressed to the Associate Dean of Honors.

For further information, contact Associate Dean Karl Petruso.

If your department has a designated internship course in its course inventory and you want to take the internship for HONR credit, you should do the following:

1. Find and arrange for the internship with a suitable firm, agency, nonprofit, etc. The work can be either paid or unpaid.
2. Identify a UTA professor in your department (a member of the full-time faculty) to serve as your mentor. S/he will guide and coordinate your work. Your mentor will ensure, among other things, that the internship is worthy of academic credit and is not merely a gofer job. Your work schedule is negotiable, but the number of hours you spend at the workplace should be at least the equivalent of a campus-based 3-hour course (45 contact hours).
3. Arrange for a professional person at the workplace to oversee your work. The exact duties, responsibilties and/or deliverables are determined among you, your workplace supervisor and your faculty mentor at the beginning of the semester so that all agree on expectations. Your faculty mentor will require an extra Honors-worthy project of you (often a paper and/or a journal) as a value-added component to justify Honors credit, and will make the requirements clear to you in advance.
4. Download the Honors Credit Contract or use the Honors Credit Contract On-line System, obtain the required signatures, and submit it to Dr. Karl Petruso, Associate Dean of Honors, as soon as possible but in no event later than Census Date for the semester of the internship. The form should provide contact information for the workplace and the on-site supervisor.
5. Ask your faculty mentor to open a section of the departmental internship course for you (s/he will receive the grade sheet for your internship at the end of the semester).
6. Arrange to meet with your faculty mentor regularly (no less than biweekly) during the semester to review your work in the internship as it progresses.
7. At the end of the semester, your workplace supervisor will submit a letter to your faculty mentor evaluating your performance, and will recommend a grade. You will write a self-evaluation for your faculty mentor which includes a candid assessment of the value of the work and of the firm or agency where the internship was based. Your faculty mentor will evaluate this material alongside your assigned project(s), determine an appropriate grade, and submit the grade sheet.

If your department does NOT have a designated internship course in its inventory and you want to take the internship for HONR credit, you should do the following:

1. Find and arrange for the internship with a suitable firm, agency, nonprofit, etc. The work can be either paid or unpaid.
2. Identify a UTA professor in your department (a member of the full-time faculty) to serve as your mentor. S/he will guide and coordinate your work. Your mentor will ensure, among other things, that the internship is worthy of academic credit and is not merely a gofer job. Your work schedule is negotiable, but the number of hours you spend at the workplace should be at least the equivalent of a campus-based 3-hour course (45 contact hours).
3. Arrange for a professional person at the workplace to oversee your work. The exact duties, responsibilties and/or deliverables are determined among you, your workplace supervisor and your faculty mentor at the beginning of the semester so that all agree on expectations. Your faculty mentor will require an extra Honors-worthy project of you (often a paper and/or a journal) as a value-added component to justify Honors credit, and will make the requirements clear to you in advance.
4. Download the Honors Credit Contract or use the Honors Credit Contract On-line System, designating Karl Petruso, Associate Dean of Honors, as the faculty member of record for the course. You will be cleared to register by advisors in the Honors College, and will register for HONR 4320: Honors Internship. This should be done as soon as possible but in no event later than the end of the drop-add period for the semester of the internship. The form should provide contact information for the workplace and the on-site supervisor.
5. Arrange to meet with your faculty mentor regularly (no less than biweekly) during the semester to review your work in the internship as it progresses.
6. At the end of the semester, your workplace supervisor submits a letter to the faculty member evaluating your performance, and recommends a grade. You will write a self-evaluation for your faculty mentor which includes a candid assessment of the value of the work and of the firm or agency where the internship was based. Your faculty mentor will evaluate this material alongside your assigned project(s), determine an appropriate grade. Your faculty mentor will evaluate this material alongside your assigned project(s), determine the appropriate grade, and send a recommendation in writing to Associate Dean Petruso, who submits the grade.