Department of Communication and Media

Students in the Communication and Media Studies program at West Chester select one of two majors.

Students majoring or minoring in Communication Studies program must meet four requirements to participate in the program:

• They must be accepted in WCU’s Communication and Media major or minor at the time that they take the internship.
• They must have earned a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.8 or better. (Students may appeal this requirement to the Internship Director.)
• They must have completed COM 209 and COM 211 as well as ONE of the following: COM213 or COM214 or COM215, with a grade of C or better in each. (These courses must be completed by the time they start your internship.)
• They must have completed at least one 300-400 level Communication Studies course with a grade of C or better. (This course must be completed by the time they start your internship.)

Students majoring or minoring in Media and Culture major or minor must meet four requirements to participate in the program: 

1. They must be accepted in WCU's Communication Studies and Media major or minor at the time that they take the internship.              Their cumulative grade point average (GPA) must be 2.5 or better. (Students may appeal this requirement to the Internship Director.)                                                                                                            3. They must have completed MDC250 and MDC251with a grade of C or better in each course. (These courses must be completed by the time they start the internship.)                             4. They must have completed at least one 300-400 level MDC course with a grade of C or better. (This course must be completed by the time they start the internship.

The decision to select an intern is an important one for both the organization and the intern, and onsite supervisors are encouraged to interview potential interns and, if necessary, request recommendations on their class work or professional activities.

Organizations participating in the program must fulfill the following requirements:

1. The organization or the department offering the internship must be communication-related. Examples of communication-related organizations are radio stations, advertising agencies and market research companies. Examples of communication-related departments are human resources, public relations, marketing, or business development departments.
2. The intern’s supervisor must have experience relevant to the internship responsibilities. For example, if the intern will be responsible for an organization’s social media presence, the supervisor must have experience in this area. The program is not designed to assist an organization in the development of a new area of expertise with the help of our students.
3. The intern’s supervisor must agree to serve in a mentorship role throughout the internship. This role requires ongoing supervision, meetings during the semester to discuss project development and goals for the program, etc.  Conversely, interns are not to be “left to figure it out” or given unsupervised work arrangements.
4. The organization must already be established. Start-up or out-of-home organizations can not participate in the program.
5. “Remote” internships where a student works off-site by computer or meets only sporadically with the supervisor are not permitted.
6. Students are not permitted to work off-site except under temporary circumstances approved by the Internship Director. For example, it would be possible for a student interning with a special events organization to work at the actual events.

To summarize, the program is open to organizations offering direct, person-to-person supervision by an employee with experience in a field relevant to communication studies-related professions.

When organizations participate in the WCU Department of Communication and Media Studies internship program, the Dean’s Office for the College of Arts and Humanities will issue an Internship Agreement to the onsite supervisor prior to the beginning of the internship. The onsite supervisors must sign and return this agreement to the dean’s office prior to the student’s first day in the program. Students are not allowed to participate in an internship until this agreement has been received by the dean’s office.

Students who take internships for credit receive a grade for their work. Supervisors will be responsible for submitting midterm and final evaluations as well as participating in an end-of-term conversation with the Internship Director to provide feedback on the student’s performance.

Students have a separate set of reporting requirements for the course, including the submission of a daily log detailing their work as well as a final paper and portfolio.