ASMSU debates internship credit
Hospitality business senior Troy Walker takes a reservation Monday at Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center. Walker began working at the hotel 1 1/2 years ago and used it to fulfill his internship requirements.
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The cost of a college internship — and how MSU measures internship credits — is under examination by an ASMSU committee after some representatives noted a disconnect in the amount students were paying in tuition for credit and the instructional time they received.
ASMSU is MSU’s undergraduate student government.
ASMSU Provost Zach Taylor said some internships, which are a requisite for some majors, require students to pay for credit hours at a higher relative cost than MSU pays to provide students with adequate resources during their internship.
The issue was discussed in an ASMSU Academic Assembly committee meeting last week, but a bill proposing changes was tabled until a specific recommendation could be made.
The bill will be re-examined at the next committee meeting on Feb. 16.
Taylor said a potential change would be to put a cap on the number of credits earned for internships.
But James Madison College Field Experience Director Grant Littke said any change that reduces credits for an internship would disadvantage students by requiring them to take more classes to graduate.
Students in the college are required to have 9 to 12 internship credits.
Internships in James Madison College are divided into classroom work and field work, which earns a student credits toward graduation, Littke said. If the number of credits was reduced, students would have to take additional credits in other areas, he said.
University curriculum administrator Joy Speas said the number of credits a student can earn for an internship is determined by each college, and there is no overarching university policy.
Taylor said the issue is something he wanted to bring to ASMSU after interning at a program through James Madison College last summer. Taylor said he assumed going into the internship he would earn about three credits, but it ended up being 12 credits.
Taylor said he spent less than three hours with his internship adviser during his internship.
Internships can be a more substantial investment in the long run depending on how much students choose to engage with the internship office and the resources they offer, Littke said.
No-preference freshman Stephanie Fox said she recognizes most majors do require internships.
But she said it doesn’t seem fair to require students to pay for credit hours for internships when they might be separate from MSU class time. Some advisers or employers at external internships provide quality feedback to students despite not being connected through an MSU internship program, she said.
“I don’t know the reasons why they make you pay for it,” she said.
Commentary
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Lena
(02/07/12 1:18pm)Report
As a JMC student I refused to pay for internship credit. Instead I waived the requirement with a 9 credit study abroad – there’s a form you can fill out to get the experience substituted. That way I could get an internship on the side without bothering with credits. JMC should still require an internship, I’d just rather take other interactive/professor-taught classes to make up for the lack of credits.
Sparty
(02/07/12 1:48pm)Report
Not only are you required to pay for these credits, but you don’t even get a grade for them. So someone takes a full semester with an 8-12 credit JMC internship and then have to complete MC401 with the paper and it does nothing to help your GPA. I put more work in to my internship and my research paper than any other JMC class and all i got for it was a P on my transcript. Thanks a lot Littke and the rest of you, real cool.
Null and Void
(02/07/12 8:19pm)Report
Don’t forget, there are still major debates about whether unpaid internships violate labor laws.
I completed my internship for Madison last summer. I still can’t believe that I had to pay for 12 credits, when the extent of the work done on MSU’s end was Littke (who, just for the record, is still a great guy) glancing over a one-page personal internship plan, and my faculty reader taking a few months to ever look at my final paper draft. MSU (and other colleges) make BANK off of this scam program. As for why I didn’t use my 7-credit study abroad… I needed those credits for my additional major. If I had elected to use those credits as JMC field experience credits instead, then I would have needed that many more credits in my second major. If I had not used the credits, but just had the field experience waived/substituted, then I still would have had to take 3 more Madison classes to reach my Madison credit requirement for graduation.
Not only am I ticked about this, but my parents, who are graciously footing my undergraduate tuition bill, are livid. To say that this has left all of us with a bad taste in our mouth is a serious understatement. This crap is criminal – pure and simple.
Null and Void
(02/07/12 8:35pm)Report
Also, just to mention a few more things…
I really enjoyed my internship. I enjoyed the people I work with, but more than anything, I realized that the type of place I interned at was not the kind of place that I wanted to work at in the future. I am very glad that James Madison has an internship requirement. I think without it, a lot of people would miss out on a great opportunity. However, Michigan State should not benefit from my labor like this. I didn’t receive a dime from my internship, which is what most people experience in an internship. To then charge tuition for these internships when you have little to no role in them whatsoever is just awful.
I’m not annoyed that I had to work an internship as part of my graduation requirements. I’m just extremely annoyed that not only was I not paid for working 35-40 hours a week, but I had to PAY someone else in order to get academic credit for it. Next, MSU will charge you full tuition for transfer credits.