Partner FAQs

An internship is any employment opportunity in which an individual's work experience has intentional learning objectives that parallel experiences in the intern's field of interest.

Hosting a student intern is a great way to provide extra support to your organization's current list of projects while getting involved in the local community. Students who participate in internships during their college careers are more likely to graduate and find a job after graduation.

By expanding the base of student internships in STEM fields, CSU Monterey Bay is furthering its efforts to create a campus engineered for student success. Undergraduate internships have been identified as a High Impact Practice (HIP) by multiple studies conducted throughout the CSU system. These studies suggest that participation in at least two HIPs during an undergraduate’s career will substantially increase the likelihood of success in the program, as reflected in higher retention rates and GPA. Once a student is engaged in an internship aligned with their desired profession, they become more determined to succeed academically.

The Science Internship Program (SIP) at CSUMB is committed to providing our students as many opportunities as possible to expand their scientific knowledge beyond the classroom. Many partnerships and collaborations have already been formed through SIP, resulting in jobs for students and a strong recruitment base for the partners.

If a student is gaining credit for their internship with your organization, the student should work at least 12 weeks out of the 18-week regular semester (for fall and spring semesters), and 8 weeks out of the 10-week summer semester.

Other than that, there is NO LIMIT to how long or short an internship can last! We want our students to be as involved as possible and to gain as many valuable skills from their experience as possible, so multi-semester internships are encouraged. However, we also like our students to be well employed after they graduate, so please do not keep them at the intern level forever!

During the regular semester, full-time students can only work a maximum of 20 hours per week. A student may work up to 40 hours per week during summer holidays and breaks.

Student internships can be paid or unpaid. Though paid positions are preferable and will draw a larger pool of applicants, any opportunity where students will participate in valuable experiences are highly sought after as well. Keep in mind that any compensation your organization can provide to students is better than nothing (e.g., a gas card, a $500 stipend, etc.).

The Department of Labor (DOL) has commented on labor issues regarding unpaid internships with this comment:

"WHD also recognizes an exception for individuals who volunteer their time, freely and without anticipation of compensation for religious, charitable, civic, or humanitarian purposes to non-profit organizations. Unpaid internships in the public sector and for non-profit charitable organizations, where the intern volunteers without expectation of compensation, are generally permissible. WHD is reviewing the need for additional guidance on internships in the public and non-profit sectors."

Fair Labor Standards Act

One of the main differences between a student intern and a service learner is the increased commitment associated with being an intern. Internships should be highly focused and more involved experiences where students work closely with site supervisors on specific projects and/or goals of the organization.

Yes! We have identified two distinct intern divisions: academic and non-academic. Academic interns are those who complete an internship alongside a class that requires it for course credit. These internships require a couple of risk management pieces between CSUMB and the site, i.e., a UAAPS, a site visit check form, and a liability waiver from the student. These internships require a learning outcome agreement, which will be determined by the student and the site supervisor and approved by the faculty of the specific class.

Non-academic interns are students who take an internship solely because they are interested in the experience. These positions can be paid or voluntary, but they are completely separate from the University. The only role we (Sciences Internship program) would play in the actual internship is advertising the position to students; thus, the interns are seen as "employees" of the organization where their internship is, and they would adhere to any risk management procedures the organization has in place. These internships are not as stringent about specific learning outcomes; however, we do encourage every site supervisor to tie specific projects to their student interns' academic studies.