Are you an undergraduate PR major or PR Master’s candidate? Do you have a public relations internship lined up, but are wondering how to get academic credit for it? You’ve come to the right place!
COM public relations students have interned for hundreds of organizations throughout the world including Hill and Knowlton, IBM, Nike, Ketchum, Porter Novelli, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, The White House, Electric Artists, American Red Cross, and Weber Shandwick Worldwide.
An internship report is required. You will be graded Pass/Fail based on the quality of your report and the evaluation you receive from your supervisor.
Earning Credit for Your Public Relations Internship
Undergraduate PR Internship Course: COM CM 471 (“Communication Internship”)
CM471 is optional for undergraduate students. To be eligible for the internship course, undergraduate students must complete CM 215, CM 331, and be a junior or senior in good academic standing. It is open to PR majors, PR minors (note that CM 471 does not satisfy any graduation requirements for the minor) and any other interested students who meet the prerequisites. CM 471 can be taken as a 2- or 4-credit class only during the semester that you serve the internship. Public Relations students are limited to four (4) total CM 471 credits via the departmental internship coordinator, and an additional four (4) credits through a Boston University Study Abroad Program. No more than eight (8) credits of CM 471 can count toward any graduation requirements.
Undergraduate students should bear in mind that while CM 471 is not required, CO 575 is required. CM 471 satisfies COM’s CO 575 requirement. Undergraduate students in CM 471 are automatically enrolled in CO 575 the week following the W deadline of the semester in which they are completing their internship for credit.
A note about summer internships: Undergraduate students who secure internships for the summer can choose to enroll in CO575 by itself, or CM471 and CO575. Note: Students enrolled in CM 471 over the summer will receive credit-based tuition charges. CO575 alone incurs only a small registration fee. You can find the CO 575 form online. Fill it out and submit it to your faculty mentor for approval.
Graduate PR Internship Course: COM CM 809
All graduate students must complete at least four (4) credits of COM CM809 Internship. Students must complete one semester of academic classes before enrolling in CM809. No more than four (4) total credits of CM809 may be applied toward graduation requirements.
Graduate Students: All graduate students must complete COM CM 772 PRLab or COM CM 809 Internship (adding up to at least four credits). Students must complete one semester before enrolling in CM809. International students generally need to complete two full-time semesters before interning off-campus. Contact isso@bu.edu with questions.
A note to all international students (graduate and undergraduate): See Steps 3 and 4 below for important information on steps that must be taken prior to receiving approval for CM471 or CM809.
Eligible Organizations
Students may choose to intern at a company, public relations firm, non-profit organization, or governmental organization. To be eligible for a Boston University internship, participating organizations (sponsors) must provide an overview of the goals and objectives for each internship project as well as a detailed description of the intern’s duties and responsibilities. Sponsors must designate a supervisor who will provide ongoing direction, support, and guidance to the intern.
The Internship Process
COM PR undergraduates wishing to enroll in CM471 must have:
- rising junior standing or higher
- at least a 2.0 COM GPA and a 2.0 overall GPA
- successfully completed COM CM215 (Principles and Practices of Public Relations)
- successfully completed COM CM331 (Writing for Communication)
COM PR graduate students wishing to enroll in CM809 must have completed at least one semester before beginning their internship. (PR international students please pay attention to Step 4 and Step 5 below.)
Students are responsible for securing their own internship opportunities. Career Services can help with this process, and has published some of the most popular internship opportunities online. BU maintains a database of job and internship opportunities on Handshake: https://bu.joinhandshake.com. BU’s Center for Career Development has some additional helpful advice for finding the right internship. For more help, contact your academic advisor office (undergrads: comugrad@bu.edu, grads: comgrad@bu.edu)
Once the internship is secured, students must fill out the Internship Contract, available online. This contract will be received and reviewed by the PR Internship Coordinator (Prof Todd Van Hoosear, vanhoose@bu.edu). Your proposed internship supervisor will be contacted for confirmation before the internship is approved.
Once the contract is received by the Internship Coordinator, your Internship Supervisor will be contacted to verify employment.
Sponsors are encouraged but not required to compensate interns for their services.
Domestic students applying for unpaid internships will not require employment authorization documentation. Domestic students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents applying for paid internships will need to complete U.S.C.I.S. Form I-9 and submit it along with acceptable documents to their employer (the company providing the internship) to show their identity and authorization to work. A list of acceptable documents is available online. This is not required for registration in CM 471 or CM 801, but will be required to receive payment by the employer.
International students on current F-1 student visas are eligible to take CM 471 or CM 809 only after filling out and securing approval by the internship coordinator (Todd Van Hoosear, vanhoose@bu.edu) of the CPT Form, which is available online. International graduate students generally need to complete two full-time semesters before interning off-campus. International students will not be enrolled in CM 471 or CM 801 until both Steps 2 and 3 have been completed. For more information, visit the ISSO website or contact isso@bu.edu.
Once the Employment Contract has been reviewed and approved (and, for international students, the CPT Form has been received and signed), the internship coordinator will inform the department that the student is authorized to be registered for the internship, and the course will be added to your schedule by the department—you do not have to add it yourself. Please note that CM471 and CM809 do not meet as regular classes, regardless of what class meeting times you may see on your course schedule. Once you are registered, you will be added to the Blackboard course for your section. The Blackboard site will include all the details you will need to successfully complete your internship requirements.
A note to all undergraduates: Please note that CM471 must be taken in the same semester as your internship. Undergraduate students in CM 471 are automatically enrolled in CO 575 the week following the W deadline of the semester in which they are completing their internship for credit. Please contact the department if you are not also registered for CO 575 in this timeframe.
A note to all graduate students: While we allow graduate students with summer internships to enroll in CM809 for the following fall semester (in fact, we assume this to be the case), please notify the department (mcadvpr@bu.edu) in advance if you intend to graduate at the end of the summer semester (for example: being enrolled into BU London summer program and graduate by the end of the London program) so you are placed in a summer semester section of the course to ensure that you are able to graduate in time.
Wikihow has a great article on preparing for your internship.
Most internships include a short “getting-up-to-speed” period in the beginning. Many also include some administrative work, which should be accepted as part of the learning experience. However, if you find yourself with little meaningful work to do or spending most of your time on administrative or clerical tasks, notify your internship coordinator (Todd Van Hoosear, vanhoose@bu.edu) immediately. Please be sure to bring any problems and concerns to their attention as early in the semester as possible, otherwise, we may not have time to address the problem.
There are two parts to your evaluation: a performance evaluation completed by your supervisor, and an internship report completed by you.
- Your internship coordinator will mail a performance evaluation form directly to your supervisor and ask them to return it before grades are due. This is a detailed, formal evaluation of your work, and represents an important portion of the student grade. Final grades are awarded on a pass/fail basis. You will receive a copy of your supervisor’s evaluation.
- An internship report must be written and submitted by you before a grade can be awarded. Details, including deadlines, are described in the syllabus. This is a critical component of your grade, and you will not pass the class without this. Deadlines for this report, and your supervisor’s performance evaluation, are included in the syllabus for each course.
While CM471 and CM809 are pass/fail courses, we take your grade seriously and you must satisfy all of the course requirements in order to receive a passing grade.