Internship Requirements
According to the JBU 2011-2013 catalog, the following majors require an internship: Digital Media Arts, Cinema Concentration; Graphic & Web Design; and Photography.
Please note that the Cinema Concentration and Photography major each require BOTH an internship and a Senior Comprehensive Project.
What is an Internship?
In order to earn 3 hours of credit and fulfill the requirements of your degree you will secure an internship in the field of your major and satisfactorily complete a minimum of 135 hours of work.
The company that you work for does not need to have an established internship program, nor do they need to go out of their way to provide any special educational opportunities. Our expectation is simply that you will be allowed to work in the creative environment of your field and that you will be working with/for a professional in the field.
An internship is not simply professional practice - you must have a supervisor who is a professional in your field of cinema, photography, graphic design or web design. For instance, we will not approve a position where you will be the expert at this organization. An internship is not simply professional practice.
Learning Expectations
Some examples of the kinds of learning experiences that you should expect might include some of the following:
1. Experiences related to deadlines and workflow expectations
2. Experiences related to client relationships
3. Experiences related to teamwork
4. Experiences related to critique of your work
5. Experiences related to production needs
6. Experiences related to business specific equipment and software
Discuss Internship options with your advisor.
Your internship must be pre-approved by your advisor. If an opportunity presents itself during the summer get in touch with your advisor or Mr Andrus before assuming that the internship will qualify. It would be best to begin discussing options by the beginning of your junior year.
Register for the course ART 4423 Internship
Most students will complete their internship during the summer before their senior year or during their senior year. It would not be wise to attempt to satisfy this requirement before your junior year.
If you will be doing your internship during the summer before your senior year or in the fall of your senior year you should register for this course in the spring of your junior year when registering for your fall senior year classes.
ART4423 Internship is not a regular course at JBU. ART 4423 does not meet as a regular class. You have 3 obligations in order to receive credit. These obligations are to be met by the end of the semester.
First, you are to secure an approved internship (approved by your advisor) and complete the form "JBU Visual Arts Internship Learning Agreement", which is available as a pdf file on the left-hand side of this page.
Secondly, you are to satisfactorily complete a minimum of 135 hours of work at this internship and ask your supervisor to mail or email to Mr Andrus a confirmation that you satisfactorily completed 135 hours of work.
Finally, you are to write a substantial and intelligent paper describing your learning experience. This paper may take the form of journal if you like. Papers should be at least 5 pages long and should not only describe your company and your position there but should discuss the kinds of learning experiences you had. What did you learn at your internship that you did not learn in school? Samples of your work are welcome as well.
When we have your JBU Visual Arts Internship Learning Agreement, a letter from your supervisor, and your paper we will be able to inform the registrars office that you have completed your internship and you will receive a grade of S for ART 4423 and will receive 3 hours of credit. This credit will have no impact on your GPA.
Forms
A JBU Internship Approval Form must be completed prior to commencing work. If you are arranging an internship away from Siloam Springs and during the summer then you must contact your advisor by phone, e-mail or mail to have the proposed internship approved and you must have the JBU Internship Learning Agreement signed by yourself and your internship supervisor and returned to your advisor at JBU. In addition, upon completion of your internship, you must request your site supervisor to write a short letter on company letterhead verifying your satisfactory completion of 135 hours of work.
To Receive Credit
Upon completion of your internship it is your responsibility to deliver to your JBU advisor your typed 5-10 page journal and your letter of satisfactory completion from your site supervisor.
