This document provides an orientation for students enrolled in an internship course at UT. It outlines the basic course requirements, including working a minimum of 180 hours, having relevant work, and submitting assignments. Students must complete midterm and final evaluations of their internship as well as a 6+ page final paper. The presentation emphasizes the importance of strong work ethic, such as being proactive, punctual, and dressing appropriately. It notes common complaints about interns and encourages students to contact the instructor if any issues arise during their internship.
2. Welcome to the Fall Internship Course!
This presentation will provide a brief orientation about
the course and how things will work this semester.
Read all of it carefully! There will be a quiz at the end.
3. Introductions: Us
Dr. Cunningham is the Ben Wyeth is the
Advertising Department TA for the internship course
Chair and the instructor and is the main point of
for the internship course. contact for you this semester.
4. Introductions: You
• There are 140 of you enrolled this semester
• You’re interning for more than 120 different organizations
• Advertising = 75 of you PR= 50 of you Grad= 15 of you
• UT Interns rock (but you already knew that).
5. What Comes Next
We’ve divided the rest of this orientation into two parts:
The Nuts & Bolts
Course Requirements, Assignments, Deadlines, etc.
The Spit & Polish
Appearance, Work Ethic, etc.
7. Basic Requirements:
• You must work a minimum of 180 hours during the semester.
• Your work must be relevant to your field of study.
• 20% or less of the hours you work should be performing clerical tasks.
(Answering phones, filing, data entry, etc.)
• You should not be working from your home or your supervisor’s home.
• You may not use software or operating systems with UT licenses.
• Any work-related expenses incurred must be refunded.
8. Course Assignments:
For ADV and PR 350 only:
•Reading Assignment 1: Due September 27th (Thursday) by midnight.
•Reading Assignment 2: Due October 18th (Thursday) by midnight.
•Reading Assignment 3: Due November 15th (Tuesday) by midnight.
For Everyone:
•Midterm Evaluations: Due October 25th (Thursday) by midnight.
•Final Paper: Due November 30th (Friday) by 5 P.M.
•Final Evaluations: Due December 5th (Wednesday) by midnight.
9. Evaluations
• Evaluations will be sent to you and to your supervisor
separately via email.
• It is the student’s responsibility to ask/remind supervisors to
complete the evaluation forms (and many of your supervisors
will need plenty of reminding).
– Late forms will affect your grade for the course.
Deadline for the Midterm is October 25th
Deadline for the Final is December 5th
10. Final Report
This is the culmination of your internship and one of the
main ways your grade is determined. Make sure you read
and understand the expectations for the paper carefully.
– Your paper should be (at least) 6 pages, typed, double spaced, #12 font
– It should discuss your overall experience in your internship.
– Be honest. If this internship wasn’t a good fit, tell us why.
– Write well, organize your paper clearly and edit!
– Read and follow the guidelines posted in Blackboard.
– You may also include samples of your work (if allowed) at the end.
– Comprehensive guidelines will be provided later in the semester.
12. Work Ethic
• The #1 complaint we get about our interns?
– They aren’t proactive enough.
• So what does that mean for you?
– Don’t be timid or apathetic!
– Actively come up with ideas and pitch them!
– Be proactive in seeking out something to do
• Especially if you’re bored or not given enough responsibility
13. Work Ethic
• And another thing, be punctual!
• This means showing up to work on time or early.
• It also means that if you need to miss work
because of illness or personal reasons, do your
best to get permission ahead of time and always
notify your supervisor.
14. Work Ethic
• Remember, you’re getting course credit for
your internship so you should be learning and
gaining meaningful experience.
• Let us know before the end of the semester if
circumstances at your internship change and
you are no longer being utilized the way you
think you should be.
15. Appearance
• Make sure you are dressed appropriately for your
work environment.
• A good rule of thumb is to look around you and see
what everyone else is wearing. Then dress one notch
above that.
– Ex: Casual for them = Business Casual for you
16. Conclusion
• If you ever have questions or need help, contact me.
– Phone: 512-471-1101
– benwyeth@utexas.edu
• This is especially true if you’re unhappy with the way
your internship is turning out or if circumstances
have changed.
• We can’t help if we don’t know something is wrong.
