Experiential Education

UNC Charlotte broadly defines an internship as a work experience in a professional setting that is an extension of the academic experience. 

UNC Charlotte believes that all internships should be paid and therefore we do not post unpaid internships. For more information, visit the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Guide to Internships.  NACE connects career services and early talent recruiting professionals and is the authority on the employment of the college educated. 

Internships may vary in number of hours worked to accommodate the needs of both the student and employer. Employers are encouraged to consider students' academic schedules if they are participating in internships while still taking classes. Internships submitted solely as work experiences may vary in hours and length or duration. 

Some students seek academic credit for internships; academic departments often require that internships be a maximum of 20 hours a week during the Fall/Spring up to 40 hours a week in the Summer and are a semester in length. It is the responsibility of the student to submit the internship to the appropriate academic contact if they intend to seek academic credit.

A combination of goal-setting, training, supervision, and evaluation should be defined and agreed upon by all parties: the student, the employer, and a university faculty/staff administrator, especially if academic credit is involved.

The University Career Center reviews all internship postings to ensure they meet the criteria. 

Internships for Academic Credit

Academic internship courses are offered in all colleges at the undergraduate (60 are optional, 13 mandatory) and graduate levels (64 optional internship courses, 32 mandatory). Requirements vary by the college/department. Upon hiring a student, employers direct the student to the Experience Portal for processing. The academic department will then connect with all parties to develop and approve specific learning objectives, structure, and evaluation criteria.

Internships for F-1 and J-1 International Students

Employers seeking to hire UNC Charlotte students with F-1 and J-1 international student visas as interns can easily do so by providing the student with an offer letter containing the following criteria: 

• Written on company letterhead
• Contain prospective CPT employer's name
• Physical location/address of proposed internship (no P.O. Boxes)
• Start date of employment (view the important dates above)
• End date of employment (view the important dates above)
• Number of work hours per week

The student then submits this offer letter and a job description through their Hire-A-Niner student account for consideration.  Once an internship has been vetted through the University Career Center, the International Student and Scholar Office authorizes Curricular Practical Training (CPT) for F-1 students or Academic Training for J-1 students.  More details and the benefits of hiring UNC Charlotte International students can be found in the UCC's Guide to Hiring International Students.

Most employers who hire new graduates rate related work experience as the top criterion used in selecting successful employees. If this describes your philosophy, you will benefit from becoming actively involved with the Co-op Program. This exciting relationship will help you identify and train prospective employees before they graduate.    

What is a Co-op?

• Paid career-related educational work opportunity to help students gain experience in a professional setting before graduating
• Available to students in the College of Computing and Informatics, William States Lee College of Engineering, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, and Belk College of Business
• Students may work 3 alternating full-time semesters of work with full-time semesters of school, or 2 back-to-back full-time semesters of work
• College of Engineering students must commit to complete 3 alternating semesters
• Engineering students may earn 1 complete year towards their professional license after completing three semesters of co-op.
• Students are enrolled in a zero-credit transcript notation course each semester they work in order to maintain their full-time status with the University.
• Students in select colleges will complete a 1 credit co-op seminar follow-up course each semester they return to school

Program Requirements

• Student eligibility: undergraduate student only; must be enrolled full-time, completed freshman level courses, and have a minimum GPA of at least 2.5
• Students must meet with their on-campus faculty advisor to plan out their co-op work and class rotation schedule before starting work
• Both students and employers submit a program evaluation at the end of each work semester. Evaluations are sent by email near the end of each semester.

Gig Training is a short-term project that an organization or internal University department might require assistance with, but there isn’t quite enough work for it to be constituted as a full internship. Gig Trainings are classified as project-based learning experiences that could assist our students with acquiring more marketable skills.

Projects can range in duration, extending from a brief 10 hours or a few days to as much as six weeks. Although projects can span over a longer period of time, student participation cannot exceed 40 TOTAL hours

• The students' hourly/weekly commitment is determined by Student Employment and is based on existing on-campus employment and class level
   
• All opportunities will be presented to the Undergraduate student population only
   
• Projects should provide the student with the opportunity to build career related experience and develop usable skills for the future
   
• Projects must be feasible without the need for professional licensure
   
• The University Career Center will compensate students at a rate of $13 per hour for their participation in this program
   
• Due to university policy, short-term projects are not eligible for academic credit

Take a deeper dive into this program

Please note that all non-profit "host" sites will have no financial responsibilities when participating in this program!  Want to learn more?  Email Ms. Tyler Calloway at tyler.calloway@charlotte.edu.