Internships are required of all students in the Master’s of Public Administration program at the University of South Carolina who lack substantial prior administrative experience. We believe that the internship is one of the most valuable educational experiences the student will have in the MPA program if it is appropriately structured and supervised. The following is intended to give some guidelines concerning internships served by students in the MPA program.

Purpose. The primary purpose of the internship is educational rather than service to the agency. Students may well, and usually do, make valuable contributions to the employing agency, but the objective of the internship is to expose the student to an experiential learning process in an actual administrative or policy setting. The agency should view itself as a partner with the MPA program in an educational endeavor. Indeed, the agency is expected to provide the primary supervision of the intern and, accordingly, is actually a senior partner in this particular enterprise.

Location. Internships may be served in governmental organizations (including executive, legislative, and judicial), in not-for profit organizations, and in private organizations dealing with the public sector. The choice of the specific location of the internship is dependent on the career interests of the student. The Internship Director will assist the student in obtaining an appropriate internship, but the student is expected to play an active role in that process.

Role and Functions. The specific role and function of a given intern in an agency should be a matter of mutual agreement between the student and the agency. This agreement should be put in writing and submitted to the Internship Director for approval. Students have served in a variety of capacities in previous internships. Some internships have been project-oriented with the student doing such things as analyzing a policy, writing a policy and procedures manual, or doing a classification and compensation plan. In other internships, students have been assigned as staff assistants to particular offices. Others have involved rotation through several offices in an agency. There is no set model. Instead, the role and function of the intern should be consistent with the interests of the student and the needs of the agency. Compensation. Interns may receive compensation for their services, although unpaid internships are common. The normal rate of compensation is minimum wage or whatever more the agency can afford. Payment is made by the agency.

Academic Credit. Students serving an internship must enroll in POLI 779 - Public Administration Internship. Successful completion of the internship requirement carries three hours of academic credit. The student’s performance is graded on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis. Grades are assigned by the Internship Director taking into consideration the evaluation of the agency supervisor.

Evaluation. Evaluation is conducted at two points in the internship experience. At the approximate midpoint of the internship a meeting is held with the intern, the intern’s supervisor, and the Internship Director to assess the progress of the internship and make whatever adjustments are deemed necessary. It is imperative that this meeting involve frank exchanges about both the performance of the intern and the quality of the internship position since corrections should be made at this stage to avoid problems at the final stage of evaluation.
At the completion of the internship, the intern is required to submit a paper of approximately 10 to 20 pages in length describing the internship, relating it to the student’s academic studies, and evaluating the experience. At the same time, the agency supervisor should submit directly to the Internship Director an evaluation of the intern’s performance. This evaluation, at a minimum, should indicate whether or not the intern served the required number of hours.

Duration. The internship should be at least 300 hours in length, or the equivalent of fifteen weeks of part-time employment. The internship may be served during the summer, during the regular academic year, or some combination thereof.

Timing. The internship may be served at any time prior to completion of the other requirements for the MPA degree. Internships are most often served during the summer, but timing is a function of the needs and interests of the student and the opportunities available. The internship should be served only after the completion of at least 12 hours of course work. The internship may only be served as part of the regular employment of the student if the student began that employment after first completing at least 12 hours of course work. If an in-service student wishes to serve an internship, special duties must be performed for the required length of time and the student must secure the prior approval of the Internship Director.

Wavier. The internship requirement may be waived for students with substantial prior administrative experience. Students seeking a waiver of the internship requirement should submit a written request to the Internship Director describing the work experience. The student should also arrange to have a supervisor or other appropriate party submit a separate statement verifying the length of employment (it must have been at least one year of full-time employment) and stating that the student’s performance in that position was at least satisfactory. A formal performance evaluation may be submitted for the supervisor’s statement.