Overview of setting up and performing an internship (Bio481)

  • student identifies an internship possibility
  • student checks in with their academic advisor to find a Biology faculty sponsor (BFS)
  • BFS contacts the internship supervisor to confirm the experience is appropriate
  • BFS gives student a syllabus and discusses expectations and timeline. Core expectations usually involve the following:
    • 40 hours of the engaged internship for each credit
    • maintenance of a reflection journal that describes daily activities and thoughts on the career path
    • production of a mini review paper on a topic agreed upon by both the student and the Elon Biology sponsor. Usually this topic relates somehow to the specific experience.
    • an internship poster presentation
    • an evaluation by the internship mentor that is sent directly to the Biology faculty sponsor.
  • Student submits application to Career Center. Application automatically moves from Career Center to academic advisor to department chair for approval
  • student performs the internship while maintaining a daily reflection journal. Often times the mini-review paper is done concurrently as well.
  • student presents poster at the departmental internship poster session
    biology faculty sponsor requests the internship mentor’s evaluation of the student’s time in the internship

Key links and resources

FAQ

Q. How many credits should I do? A. That’s up to you. Technically you only need one credit to fulfill the Biology experiential learning requirement (ELR). If you do 2 credits, that might also then take care of your Elon University ELR (although there are leadership or global experiences that may already be applying to the Elon ELR).

Q. Does this cost? A. It’s a credit-bearing experience so it is treated like a class. If you were to perform it during the regular school year (Fall, Winter, Spring) then it is part of your regular tuition and would only cost more if it put you over a certain number of credits. If you were to perform it in the summer then you have to pay for it like a regular course per credit.

Q. Can I be paid for my internship and still have it count for credits? A. yes, if the internship you’ve set up is a paid internship that is fine – it’s the nature of the experience that is the important thing.

Q. I did an experience last summer but never registered it – can I use that? A. no, experiences cannot be retrospectively added. Because it’s a credit-bearing experience you have a number of academic obligations (like the mini-review) and everything needs to be pre-approved as described above.