The internship experience may be paid or unpaid, on or off-campus. What distinguishes an internship from a short-term job or volunteer work? Intentional learning takes place in the form of a self-directed learning contract through the student’s enrollment in an academic internship course at Hope or an approved off-campus academic program outside of west Michigan. Due to the academic nature of internships at Hope, retroactive credit will not be granted for internships already completed. Employers may submit internship postings to Hope College using the "Off Campus Employers Enter Here" link on the Hope College JobStop website.

Internships posted on Job Stop are approved by the college as credit worthy. Students wanting to earn credit for an internship they found on their own, not through Job Stop, must submit a form for approval before registering for credit.

Internship Approval Form

A Hope College internship involves

• an academic course emphasizing depth of learning within an applied setting for which students receive a grade and academic credit listed on their Hope College transcript.
• an applied experience that occurs onsite at a placement outside of the department from which credit is given.
• three hours onsite per week over the course of at least one semester or summer for every credit of internship enrolled, along with time invested in course meetings and writing.

The student intern has

• an on-site supervisor with expertise in the area consistent with the department from whom the credit is given, and with whom regularly scheduled supervision meetings occur.
• a professor who oversees the internship, making contact with the onsite supervisor and student, assigning and evaluating readings and written assignments, and meeting or communicating on a regular basis with the student to stimulate reflections about one’s vocation and callings.

The student may be required to complete

• a contract in collaboration with the onsite supervisor and professor that includes learning objectives and strategies for obtaining them, site expectations for intern behavior, and a plan for supervision from the onsite supervisor.
• ethics and liability agreements regarding appropriate and inappropriate conduct, as well as risk management.
• a project mutually agreed upon by the professor, supervisor, and student.

The internship site provides

• a clear job/project description for the internship experience, with work of an administrative nature comprising no more than 50% of the intern's time.
• an orientation for the student to the organization, its “culture” and intern work assignment(s).
• assistance in development of the intern’s learning objectives and learning contract.
• feedback to the student through regularly scheduled supervision meetings.
• formal written evaluation(s) of the student using the format provided by the professor.