Internships
The School of Agriculture's internship program provides students with opportunities to obtain practical educational work experience related to their career objectives and apply their classroom experiences to their desired field of work.
The internship program is designed for a 9-12 week work experience. Most programs run during the summer months, but internships during the academic year also are available.
Educational work experiences to be provided during the internship will be agreed upon by the School of Agriculture internship coordinator, or a faculty member, and the cooperating firm or agency. A faculty member is assigned to each student intern for the purpose of working with the cooperating firm or agency and completing a student evaluation.
View our Internship Handbook for more details.
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For Students
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for an internship, a student should be currently enrolled in a program housed in the School of Agriculture. The student must be in good academic standing at the time of registration for the desired internship course. Transfer students must be admitted to the university and enrolled for the semester that immediately follows the planned internship experience.
The student must be registered for the desired School of Agriculture internship course: AGBUS 3750, AGET3750, ANSCI 3750, ENVHORT 3750, SCSCI3750, or ECORES 3750.
The student should have completed, or be in progress of completing, at least 45 credits at the time of registration for the desired internship course. Only courses in progress in the semester prior to the internship period will be considered.
Additionally, the student should have completed, or be in progress of completing, at least 12 credits of coursework within the major before registering for the desired internship course. Only course in progress in the semester prior to the internship period will be considered.
The student must attend a mandatory School of Agriculture internship meeting before registering for the internship course. An announcement regarding the meeting date will be sent via email and also posted on the School of Agriculture’s Facebook page.
Required Forms
The student must obtain a position description from the prospective internship employer on company letterhead or signed by the supervisor. The supervisor's signature will be required on the School of Agriculture Internship Approval Form.
The student must discuss the position description with his or her advisor. The advisor's signature is also required on the School of Agriculture Internship Approval Form.
Before beginning the internship, the student must submit a completed Internship Approval Form to School of Agriculture office.
Responsibilities of Student Interns
The student intern must fulfill important responsibilities during the placement in order to receive academic credit from UW-Platteville. Student responsibilities begin long before employment commences. The intern is expected to provide leadership in identifying, obtaining approval, registering for credit, and successfully completing all the expectations and requirements outlined by the employer in the position description and the UW-Platteville School of Agriculture for receiving credit.
While on the job, the student intern will be regarded as a regular employee of the firm and responsible for complying with all regulations, safety procedures, and legal requirements established by the company. The intern is expected to act in a professional manner and be respectful of other employees.
If any problems or difficulties should arise during the internship, the intern must assume responsibility for informing the internship coordinator or faculty evaluator of the issue. The intern should also serve as an emissary of good public relations with the company and its employees.
Intern Responsibilities before Beginning Employment
Accepting an internship offer is a serious commitment. Employers invest significant time and resources recruiting interns and expect students to honor their commitment for employment. The university also invests significant time and resources recruiting prospective employers and building working relationships. Employers and the university alike expect student interns to honor their agreements for employment. Therefore, students should only accept offers of employment to which they are seriously committed.
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For Employers
For employers, providing internships to UW-Platteville students can yield important benefits. Internships offer employers a source of potential future employees who can be observed over time, and they provide ways for students to learn about the employer's business, innovations, practices, and workplace culture.
Employer responsibilities include the following:
- Approve job duties that the interns have developed cooperatively with the internship coordinator or provide a list of job duties. The duties must require some college education.
- Provide ongoing, informal feedback to student interns about their work performance.
- Complete a final evaluation of student intern's performance on the internship using as online employer evaluation form.
- Conduct a face-to-face meeting to explain evaluation of the intern's performance to the student intern, if appropriate.
Employer Evaluation
An integral component of the internship is the evaluation of the intern by the intern's supervisor. The supervisor will conduct two evaluations. The first evaluation will occur at the mid-term point in the internship. This form is available to the intern on Canvas.
In this evaluation, the employer will provide a mid-internship evaluation of the intern's general job performance, as well as the intern's strengths and suggestions for professional development.
Completed forms must be submitted to the course Canvas site by the midpoint of the semester. The intern is responsible for working with his or her supervisor to ensure that the mid-term evaluation is completed in a timely manner.
The employer will complete the final evaluation during the final weeks of the internship period. In this evaluation, the intern's supervisor will evaluate the intern's competencies in the academic program's student learning outcomes at the beginning and end of the internship period. The supervisor will also evaluate the intern's general job performance, as well as the intern's strengths and suggestions for professional development. It is recommended that the intern and supervisor discuss the final evaluation.
The final evaluation will come to the employer by email and will include a survey link. The intern is responsible for working with his or her supervisor to ensure that the final evaluation is completed in a timely manner.
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Resources
Students are each responsible for identifying and applying for an internship position. Students may identify an internship position with any of these UW-Platteville resources: Handshake, School of Agriculture's Facebook Page, UW-Platteville Career Fairs, and our School of Agriculture Internship Coordinator, Dr. Tera Montgomery.
We also recommend AGCareers.com, Ag1source.com, and Indeed.com.
