Internships and Independent Study in Human Resources

The HRM department will consider both paid and unpaid internships for academic credit. However, internships must be more than simple low-level clerical positions or other similar routine work. Students are encouraged to select positions that present a challenge and offer an opportunity to further develop the student’s knowledge of the field of HRM. All internships must be preapproved by the undergraduate credit director, Ryan Greenbaum.

Students must fill out and send in an application with a description of the internship to the office of the HRM Undergraduate Programs. The description must be a paragraph of 50-100 words and should provide detailed information on the duties that will be assigned during the course of the internship.

Students may only apply one internship toward their HRM major, for a total of three credits maximum. This is provided the student has three or less than three academic internship credits from either another department or University Career Services. In addition, 120 hours of work must be performed and verified by the host company.

Note: Internship credits are treated the same as any other course credits and if not included in a full-time course schedule are charged on a per credit basis.

HRM major/minor seeking to receive academic credit for an internship through the HRM Undergraduate Program must have completed four (4) human resource management core classes (12 credits, including Introduction to HRM and Talent Acquisition) with a GPA of 3.2 or higher within the core. Applications must be submitted to the Human Resource Management Department by the deadline indicated below. All submitted applications must be finalized by the end of the drop/add period.

If a student does not meet the requirements needed to qualify for credit through the SMLR HRM Dept., alternative programs are available through SAS and University Career Services.
SAS College Internship Program
Career Services RICP Program

1. Once an eligible student has been offered an internship and has accepted the position, he/she can then apply for credit through the SMLR HRM Department. All internships will be supervised by a designated member of the Human Resource Management Department faculty.
2. An Internship Application Form must be completed and emailed as an attachment to the Student Counselor, Joy Montuoro, montuoro@smlr.rutgers.edu.
3. Upon receipt of the internship application a form requesting additional information will be sent out to the supervisor of the sponsoring company.
4. After the sponsor has returned the information request form, the HRM Undergraduate Director will review and either approve or disapprove the internship. Students will be notified of the results.
5. For internships that are approved, students will be sent the following information:
   Index Number
   Special Permission Number
   Number of Credits
   Course Syllabus
6. Upon registration, the student should contact the supervising professor to discuss the required work and subsequent due dates.
7. Students are responsible for ensuring their work is turned in to the supervising professor and must make sure he/she has completed the total number of hours required to obtain credit for the internship. An evaluation is sent to the host organization at the end of the internship to ensure the required number of hours have been met.

Students who are registered for 37:533:496 will be required to -

• Complete two internship questionnaires (beginning and end of the semester)
• Update/revise their resume to reflect projects/assignments completed during the internship and highlight skills acquired during the internship  
• Participate in at least three events/meetings with the SMLR Career Center (during the summer, students will participate in one event/meeting with the SMLR Career Center)
• Write an introductory paper
• Submit a weekly assignment related to their internship experiences

All students with internships will be required to attend one class session. The class will cover internship goals and setting career goals. Class sessions for internships will be arranged to fit into students' schedules.

Upper-level human resource management majors can apply for independent study credits provided they have completed five (5) human resource management core classes (15 credits) with an overall GPA of 3.5 or higher. Independent study projects typically carry 3 credits. Additional credits would require approval from the HRM Undergraduate Program Credit Director, Ryan Greenbaum. Interested students must first obtain joint approval from the HRM Program Credit Director and a full-time faculty adviser from the Human Resource Management Department. Students approved for independent study will be required to submit a 15-20 page final paper to be graded by the supervising faculty adviser.  For eligibility, students should consult the HRM Undergraduate Student Counselor, Grace Tien, stien@smlr.rutgers.edu.