Below are our four steps to getting certified eligible to do an internship. If you plan to intern for credit (required for all DMJ majors), you must follow all these steps. The first step should be completed as soon as you meet the requirements below. If you are a sophomore, you are likely eligible to complete the first step.
- Read the Internship Info Presentation: tinyurl.com/npinternpacket
- Prepare Your Resume
- Download Your Progress Report as a PDF
- Fill out the application to earn internship credits, found at the end of the packet tinyurl.com/npinternpacket
This is the very first step and should happen before looking for an internship placement. To gain approval to earn internship credits, you must complete the application and submit your progress report and one-page, single-sided resume.
Here’s where to find the information packet and application: tinyurl.com/npinternpacket
If you do not complete this step, any internship you complete will not count for any credits. Once you submit this application and it is approved, it is valid until you graduate. That means if you submit this application as a sophomore but don’t complete an internship until senior year, you do not need to submit this application again. You are still approved to earn credits (as long as your GPA has not fallen below 2.5)!
To earn internship credits, you need at least:
- 2.5 GPA
- 18 credits in your major
- 60 total credits
- 30 credits at SUNY New Paltz
The deadline to submit this application is the second Friday in March for summer or fall internships and the second Friday in November for spring internships.
2. Find an internship
Once you have been approved to earn internship credits, you will receive a congratulatory email. After you receive this email, you need to find an internship. You must search and apply for your own internship(s). Start early so you can be sure you have a placement before the semester starts. Follow our program on Instagram @npcommedia. This post and video includes lots of places to look.
3. Get internship approved by Internship Director Nancy Heiz
Once you have found an internship placement and are accepted/hired into that internship, you must get that internship approved. Email Nancy Heiz (heizn@newpaltz.edu) or stop by CSB 64 to get your internship approved. Again, do not wait to do this until the semester you plan to intern.
4. Get registered for Internship Credits
After your internship is approved by Nancy Heiz, you will go back to the congratulatory email to fill out a link to a registration permission request form — so you can register for the internship credits (DMJ490) and the 1-credit seminar (DMJ491) that must be taken alongside your internship. These are listed as “full” on the schedule of classes so that students follow our protocol for approval. Our department grants students permission to register for these credits. **You cannot register for the credits without FIRST getting your placement approved.
Once you have completed these steps, you are all set to start your internship and earn credits for it!
If you need help finding an internship, read our blog site that gives you all the resources from the DMJ department!