Students must enroll in the Internship course to receive academic credit for the internship. Eligibility criteria include:

 

• Students enrolling in the Internship course must be Juniors or Seniors in good academic standing (GPA of 2.0 or higher), be a declared communication major or minor, have successfully completed a minimum of 12 credit hours in the ODU Communication Department, and have the permission of the Communication Internship Director.  The Internship course is not eligible as an Option D course for other majors.

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• Students will have various prerequisites depending on their area of concentration within Communication (see application here). Students who have not taken the prerequisites must demonstrate knowledge sufficient to waive that requirement (at the sole discretion of the Internship Director).

 

• Internships must clearly be in the field of communication. See Internship Criteria for more information.

 

• Students must have been enrolled at ODU for more than one semester prior to enrolling in an internship.

 

• Students apply to enroll in the Internship course for 3 credits per semester once the employment situation has been confirmed.  

 

• Students must enroll in the Internship course the semester the internship is performed. Credit is never retroactive.

 

• The Internship course may be repeated in a subsequent semester for 3 more general elective credits (not COMM credits) or a total of 6 credits maximum, provided the student passed the Internship Course for the initial three credits.  Internship credits are always pass/fail.

 

• During the semester of enrollment, students must complete a minimum of 150 work hours. Most internships involve little or no remuneration.

 

• Students are required to enroll in “HandShake,” the resume and job referral software service provided by ODU's Career Development Services.  This service is free.

 

Students qualifying for the internship program are expected to meet high standards of personal conduct and professional ethics, as well as to maintain attention to punctuality, deadlines, and cooperation with others. In short, students are expected to work hard, become an asset to the organizations they are serving, and serve as ambassadors of ODU’s Internship program.