An academic internship is a form of experiential education that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skill development in a professional setting.
Interns complete a minimum of 120 hours in your business or organization over a semester, typically working 10-15 hours per week while earning three hours of credit at Regis.
- Fall Semester – late August through early December
- Spring Semester – mid-January through late April
- Summer – May through August
In order to earn credit for the internship and ensure that it is a learning experience, students take an internship course in a related major while they are serving as an intern. This means:
- Students are guided by a member of the Regis faculty and follow academic guidelines contained in a syllabus prepared by their department; the faculty member provides the final grade based on academic requirements and evaluations from the internship site supervisor
- Students create a Learning Contract for the internship, in which they outline clearly defined learning objectives related to their professional and academic goals
- The internship site supervisor is viewed as a co-educator
- Students pay tuition for credit-bearing internships and earn a final grade; tuition provides coverage under Regis’ workers’ compensation policy for the semester
View our undergraduate degree programs to learn more about what our students are learning. Regis College also offers externships to graduate students in the M.S. in Biomedical Sciences program.
Expectations for the Internship Site and Supervisor
We view an internship as a reciprocal arrangement with a business or organization, wherein a student makes a real contribution to the organization, but the organization also provides a pre-professional experience for the student. Internships may be paid or unpaid.
The internship site supervisor plays a vital role in the student’s development and success. At the internship site, we seek a supervisor who:
- Has knowledge and experience corresponding to the internship focus and who will serve as a mentor/guide in the professional world
- Provides regular feedback related to the student’s professional and academic objectives (including submitting a midterm and final evaluation online)
- Increases the level of responsibility over time and maximizes the scope of the student’s organizational experience
- Provides a workspace on site for the student
- Provides authentic work aligned with student objectives, which allows the student to master skills and develop competence in new areas
A note on “authentic work”
The internship should include a clearly defined project with tangible deliverables and an appropriate level of challenge. It should also present a professional opportunity for students to apply classroom theory to real-world issues. Some typical internship assignments are direct work with clients; conducting research, studies, or surveys; compiling reports; developing presentations; generating marketing plans; creating and conducting trainings; and writing handbooks or manuals.
Private, public, and not-for-profit organizations may recruit interns through our program. To discuss your internship and submit a job description, contact
Lynne Montrose, director of the Academic Internship Program at 303.458.1809, or
Melinda Taylor, program coordinator at 303.964.5234.
The Academic Internship Program at Regis is designed for traditional undergraduate students in Regis College. It has been developed to give students an “on-the-ground” career development perspective, specific marketable skills, opportunities for networking and communicating with professionals in their field of interest, and the chance to develop strong work related characteristics such as initiative, motivation, integrity, and a focused work ethic.
Your guidance and mentorship of our students is very much appreciated at Regis. Each student also has a faculty sponsor who helps them develop a learning contract that will structure the student's academic program, resulting in academic credit and a letter grade for the course.
We will ask you to submit some forms throughout the 15-week semester. These forms are very important! We have placed them online for your convenience, but the evaluations are time-specific and must be returned by certain deadlines in order for the student’s faculty sponsor to submit their credit and grades.
We will ask you initially to confirm the student’s placement by submitting the confirmation form.
Six weeks into the placement we will email you with a link to the online mid-term evaluation. Please submit this form by the deadline, which will be clearly indicated in the email.
At the end of the term we will request that you fill out our Final Evaluation. Again, please submit this form by the deadline indicated in the email message you receive.
For many of our new placements, we will schedule an on-site visit. We will take a digital photograph of you and your intern and have a brief meeting to review the internship from the perspective of both you and your intern.
Please feel free to contact Lynne Montrose or Melinda Taylor for questions and information.