The historical mission of a liberal arts education has been to develop the qualities of a free and responsible citizen, one who can reason clearly, read analytically, argue persuasively in speech and in writing, and contribute in fundamental and innovative ways to a chosen field of study or work. Liberal Arts and Sciences graduates approach life and their life's work with a broad perspective. They can adapt and thrive in a world in which information outdates itself at an accelerating rate, and mastery is won by those who have learned how to learn. Students will become adept at learning how to learn in Honors College classrooms, but to give students a similar experience outside of the classroom, the College requires every student to participate in an off-campus learning experience. The off-campus requirement may be satisfied with a semester or year of study abroad, an internship, or a service project.

In addition to providing an opportunity to learn how to learn outside of the classroom, the College wants to facilitate experiences which encourage students to gain deeper experience with either environmental or international studies, two areas of special focus in the Honors College curriculum.

The value of practical experience in their fields of study and, in some cases, the expense involved in studying abroad, will contribute to many of our students choosing to fulfill the off-campus learning experience by completing an internship (for which they can receive academic credit). Academic credit for internships is variable (between 1 and 12 credit hours), making the terms of an internship extremely flexible. However, we expect most students to seek internships for which they would receive 3 hours of academic credit. Such an experience would involve approximately 240 hours of work (the total number of hours is somewhat flexible, depending on the sort of work being performed). Students may receive internship credit for either paid or volunteer work. For instance, a student might complete an internship by working 40 hours per week for 6 weeks during the summer, or by working an average of 16 hours per week for one semester (15 weeks).

In order for students to earn credit for their internships, their employers must agree to help the College ensure the internship experience will be a valuable educational experience for the student. In particular, the employer should be willing to provide specific information about the activities and responsibilities of the intern before the student starts working, and employers must be willing to evaluate the intern (the Honors College has a standard form) at the end of the internship. Students will use information about activities, responsibilities, and evaluation procedures to compose an internship contract to be signed by the employee supervisor, the student's academic advisor, the faculty internship advisor, and the student.

If you or your organization would be interested in hosting student interns (now or in the future), we invite you to complete the internship contact form. These forms will go to the conference organizers, who all act as student advisors, and to Dr. Jackie Kern, the internship coordinator for the Honors College, who helps students find and organize internships that are appropriate for their interests and fields of study. If you have questions or would like additional information, please feel free to contact one of the organizers or Dr. Kern directly.