Government Department Internship Policies
The Government Department does not give major credit for internships, but if you have completed -- at Wesleyan -- an introductory Government course and at least three upper-division Government courses, you are eligible to seek Government Department-approved education-in-the-field credit for a political science-related internship. The Wesleyan Career Center has a helpful internship search resources page that may give you some leads. If approved, the internship will appear on your academic history as an education-in-the-field credit.
Internships: Credit toward Graduation through Education-in-the Field
To receive Government Department approval for education-in-the field credit toward graduation (again, you may not count such credit toward the major), the internship you find must comply with the regulations listed below. To get started with the approval process, you should:
(1) Make sure you have completed the four Government courses you need.
(2) Find a political-science related internship.
(3) Verify that the internship meets the regulations stipulated below.
(4) Find a tenured or tenure-track member of the Government Department to sponsor your internship.
(5) Download the university-wide application to earn education-in-the-field credit.
(6) Fill it out, get the required signatures, and submit the application to the Office of Student Affairs.
Regulations
1. The Government Department will not authorize academic credit for summer internships or for internships in the context of study-abroad programs.
2. Education in the field credits earned through an internship may not count toward the Government major.
3. You must have completed at Wesleyan an introductory Government course and at least three upper-division Government courses before approaching a Government Department faculty member to approve your political science-related internship for education in the field credit toward graduation.
4. A tenured or tenure-track member of the Government Department faculty must agree to sponsor and supervise your internship.
5. The sponsoring organization must have carefully planned and developed the internship positions or should have had considerable experience with employment of interns to the extent that the Government Department faculty sponsor/supervisor is made reasonably confident that the internship will be a meaningful educational experience.
6. Your Government advisor and the Government Department chair must approve your internship and your sponsor/supervisor's oversight.
7. Someone from the sponsoring organization must be designated to supervise your internship, to report during your internship to your Government Department faculty sponsor/supervisor about your progress during the internship, and to certify at the end of your internship that you have completed it satisfactorily.
8. All course credits for internships are graded credit/no credit (for a partial exception see rule 11 below).
9. All course credits for internships are education-in-the-field credits. No internship may be taken as a Government Department tutorial.
10. Approval of off-campus programs on an individual basis by the Department does not imply university sponsorship of such programs.
11. For a half-time, one-semester internship during the academic year, one credit (on an ungraded CR/U basis) is given.
12. For a full-time, one-semester internship during the academic year, one credit (on an ungraded CR/U basis) is given, but the faculty member who is supervising the internship may authorize an additional credit, on a letter-grade basis, toward the major as well as toward graduation, upon completion of a list of readings and a research paper.