Internship resources for faculty and staff

In order to mitigate risk to host sites, students, and the university, NAU complies with the criteria set forth by the Department of Labor Fair Labor Standards Act (Fact Sheet #71) and the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) position statement on U.S. Internships when evaluating internship postings.

Internships can be paid or unpaid, but must be a learning experience for the primary benefit of the intern. To ensure that an experience – whether it is a traditional internship or one conducted remotely or virtually – is educational, and thus eligible to be considered an internship, all the following criteria must be met:

1. The experience must be an extension of the classroom: a learning experience that provides for applying the knowledge gained in the classroom. It must not be simply to advance the operations of the employer or be the work that a regular employee would routinely perform.
2. The skills or knowledge learned must be transferable to other employment settings.
3. The experience has a defined beginning and end, and a job description with desired qualifications.
4. There are clearly defined learning objectives/goals related to the professional goals of the student’s academic coursework.
5. There is supervision by a professional with expertise and educational and/or professional background in the field of the experience.
6. There is routine feedback from the supervisor.
7. There are resources, equipment, and facilities provided by the host employer that support learning objectives/goals.

Credit-bearing internships at NAU are a partnership between the internship host site, student intern, and NAU departmental internship coordinator or faculty member. This tri-lateral partnership supports a successful internship experience for all by articulating clear expectations, supporting process compliance, and focusing on the intern’s roles as student and learner.  It is also important to refer to the “Legal information and affiliation agreements” tab below for further information on the policy and procedure.

If you are working with a student who is doing an internship/fieldwork/clinical placement abroad for academic credit, please follow the same process to have the organization sign an affiliation agreement. In addition, the student will need to register with NAU Education Abroad and complete the risk and release paperwork.

Students wishing to travel to a country with a current travel advisory require approval from NAU Education Abroad.

International organizations reaching out to recruit NAU students should be directed to NAU Education Abroad for review.

Questions? Contact Angelina.Palumbo@nau.edu, Director, Education Abroad.

Evaluation templates

Below are recommended templates that can be used as is or adjusted as needed. Just remember that evaluations need to offer questions or prompts that allow for thoughtful and critical evaluation of the student’s perceptions and work, and provide information that can be built upon to strengthen the learning experience.

Intern Self-Evaluation

Supervisor Performance Evaluation