All IST students are required to complete an internship as part of their degree requirements. In addition to providing hands-on IT experience, an IST internship can expose students to a professional work environment, building important social skills in the workplace and creating valuable business relationships.
Baccalaureate Degree students are required to earn at least 300 hours of internship experience, while Associate Degree students must earn a minimum of 150 hours. Internships can be part-time or full-time and paid or unpaid. An internship can be completed over a span of two semesters and students can take up to three separate internships for credit.
Finding an Internship
Finding an internship is largely the responsibility of the student, but there are a number of resources at Penn State to help in the search. Prior to starting the internship search, students should talk to their academic advisor. Once they have approval from the academic advisor, students will be provided with the necessary assistance to start the internship process, including direction to Penn States internship resources and help and guidance in finding an internship position.
Starting an Internship
Once students have been offered an internship, they must complete the following:
- All internship positions must be first approved by the faculty mentor, Dr. Wei-Fan Chen.
The faculty mentor must be provided with a mission statement of the organization sponsoring the internship, a job description of the internship, including responsibilities, and the name of the internship supervisor. This correspondence must also indicate whether the internship will be used to fulfill the 300 hour IST 495 requirement for the Baccalaureate degree or the 150 hour IST 295B requirement for the Associate Degree.
E-mail this information to the faculty mentor in the text portion of an email. Do NOT send this information as a separate attachment.
- After you have been approved, an appointment must be scheduled with the faculty mentor to discuss the internship.
During the Internship
- A log of hours and accomplishments made during the internship must be maintained by the student. Log updates should be forwarded to the faculty mentor every 1 or 2 weeks. This information will be kept on file at the university.
- At the half way point of the internship, the Mid-Point Evaluation Form must be submitted by mail to the faculty mentor. The envelope should be addressed to the faculty mentor and sent to: Penn State Wilkes-Barre, 44 University Drive, Lehman, PA 18612.
After the Internship
- The students should provide their internship supervisor with a copy of the Employer’s Final Evaluation Form. The supervisor should complete and mail the form to the faculty mentor at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, 44 University Drive, Lehman, PA 18612.
- Both the IST 495 Report and Student’s Final Evaluation Form must be completed by the student. Both forms should be submitted by mail to the faculty mentor.
- Upon receipt of all forms, including the IST 495 Report, a grade will be assigned for the student to either IST 495 or IST 295B.
Note: To view the forms, you must have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer.
