Career & Internships Externship Services

High Point University’s Career & Internship Services is pleased to launch a set of externship courses aimed at second semester freshmen and sophomores seeking career-based experiences and training sessions.

The Benefits of an Externship

Students can begin making progress towards their career goals during their first two years in college. An externship is an excellent opportunity for freshmen and sophomores, especially undecided majors, to explore or become familiar with potential career fields. Much of the students’ experience is through observation and shadowing. Students are given a small amount of responsibility; however, high levels of supervision and assistance are available.

Students may choose to complete a 1- or 2-credit externship experience with a classroom component and 20 on-site contact hours required for each credit. The classroom component of the externship, taught by the Director of Career & Internship Services, will incorporate career decision-making strategies to help students narrow their choices to a particular discipline or within a discipline, depending on the needs of each student. The course cannot be repeated.

Students interested in completing a summer externship from a location outside the Triad area may access the classroom component online.

Requirements for Externships

  • Students must complete an Externship Application in order to be considered for the course: all applicants must submit the application, which is to be reviewed and signed by Eric Melniczek, the Director of Career & Internship Services, before they can enroll in the course.
  • Applicants for externship experiences must be full-time, degree-seeking High Point University students in good disciplinary standing.
  • Applicants must have earned at least 14 credits, and no more than 57 credits AT THE START OF THE SEMESTER WHICH THE APPLICANT WISHES TO PURSUE THE EXTERNSHIP, with a minimum overall grade point average of 2.0 and a 2.0 average or better in the major area, if a major has been declared. This program is limited to students with second semester freshman or sophomore status at the start of the term enrolled. Applicants also must gain permission and approval from the Director of Career & Internship Services.
  • BEGINNING FALL, 2013 – All students must have earned at least 16 credits and no more than 59 credits to be eligible to enroll in the course.
  • All externships are graded Pass/Fail by the Director of Career & Internship Services.
  • To qualify as an externship site, hosts must meet the criteria established by Career & Internship Services. Site host criteria are listed below.
  • During the term of externship, a time log must be kept of each site experience, signed by the site supervisor, and submitted each week to Career & Internship Services.
  • On-site visits for externships will occur only if a problem or concern arises that cannot be resolved by telephone, email, video-conferencing, or another means of long-distance communication.

Host Site Qualifications for Externships and Internships

  • To provide an effective, positive learning environment for HPU student externs and interns, host sites must meet the following minimum qualifications:
  • Externship hosts must have at least one full-time employee who can serve as a co-educator, mentoring the intern and serving as a resource for questions.
  • Hosts must agree to all Site Supervisor Responsibilities (listed on the Career & Internships website under Internship Responsibilities), including:
    • Hosts must have a policy discouraging harassment in all forms and make that policy known to the student extern/intern.
    • Hosts must have liability insurance or offer worker’s compensation, depending on whether the position is paid or unpaid.
  • The workplace cannot be located in a private home.
  • Responsibilities must align with what should be expected of a college student at the appropriate level. Career & Internships staff will determine which experiences may qualify for academic credit.
  • The site should be one with which the student has no prior experience. Thus, experiences on the High Point University campus cannot be completed for academic credit.
  • While part-time jobs are excellent opportunities to gain experience in a professional setting, they do not rise to the level of academic rigor required of the externship/internship program.

 

For more information about the externships program, contact:

Eric Melniczek
Director of Career & Internship Services
336.841.4558