Employers from varying employment sectors recognize the value of offering an internship or cooperative education opportunity to students. Not only are students able to gain practical work experience, but employers are able to tap into this talent pool which aids them in their recruitment efforts while developing meaningful partnerships with educational institutions. The Career Development Center offers both experiential learning programs - the Cooperative Education Program and the Internship Program.
Internship Program
Our internship program affords students the opportunity to get firsthand experience in their prospective careers of choice. Internships are a great decision making tool to aid students in refining and/or making definitive decisions about their career goals. An internship is not just a one-time experience; it can be a series of progressive workplace learning experiences that enhances students’ resumes. Through the CDC, sophomore, junior and senior level students with a minimum 2.5 or better GPA are able to earn 2 academic credits for their internship experience provided the internship duties meets the approval of the Program Coordinator and the student’s faculty advisor and/or department chair. Students are also able to do internships for non-credit if they aren’t seeking credits for the experience. Students completing internships for credit are required to work a minimum of 100 hours per semester and must register for the two credit interdisciplinary course for the semester in which they will complete their internship. The hours required per week will depend upon the requirements of the position but usually are less than 20 hours per week. Summer internships are usually full-time positions. To obtain program forms for the Internship Program or to obtain information on how to develop an experiential learning program, please click on the applicable links below.
COOPERATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM
One of the most dynamic concepts in post-secondary education today is Cooperative Education. Though there are many variations of this program, Cooperative Education is basically an arrangement of combining study and work leading to the Baccalaureate Degree. The Cooperative Education student intersperses on-campus academic preparation with off-campus actual job experience. To implement Cooperative Education, a partnership is formed between the employer, University and the student. This partnership provides many benefits for all parties involved. There are two types of Cooperative Education programs at Bowie State University that students can participate in – Parallel Co-op or Alternating Co-op. Students participating in a Parallel Co-op attend school full-time while working part time each semester. Students participating in an Alternating Co-op assignment alternates semesters between full-time work and full-time study. Students participating in the Cooperative Education Program are able to receive academic credit for their work experiences provided their duties meet the approval of the Program Coordinator, Department Chair and faculty advisor. Guides
Employer Guide to Starting an Experiential Learning Program
Employer Guide to Cooperative Education
