Interns Help and FAQs
What’s the difference between an intern and a volunteer?
An internship benefits the student and is part of a degree program. A volunteer position benefits the University and is not part of a degree program.
Does someone have to be a student in order to be an intern?
Yes. An internship is part of a degree program. A non-student would need to be appointed as an employee or a volunteer.
Paid interns will use the management intern position. How about the combination (paid and unpaid) intern?
All paid interns will be classified as Management Interns. It’s a temporary classification that is to be used for this purpose.
If a new intern is appointed for 1 yr, how long can an extension be for?
There are no rules from our side on extensions. Typically an intern is appointed for no more than a year, but if a situation arises where we want to extend someone longer, we will address it at that time.
Unpaid intern will be given the credit. Will that credit be used towards the degree?
Yes.
Sometimes background checks are done at the offering institution. Can departments upload a background check from that institution?
It is the department’s responsibility to confirm that a background check was done at the home institution. UP will confer with the department and note on the form that the check was completed elsewhere.
Is there a minimum number of hours the intern has to work per week to get the degree credit?
This information is set in the degree program itself. They are not necessarily the same.
So once an Intern Request is approved, who is responsible for entering the POI in PeopleSoft?
For unpaid interns, the Volunteer Appointments team will key the POI information. For paid interns there will be no POI. UP will key the Job Data information.
Can a student assistant who is doing research be hired as an intern?
An internship is part of a degree program. If the student assistant is required to do an internship as part of the degree program, then yes. If not, they should be hired as a student assistant if they will get paid or appointed as a volunteer if unpaid.
Will the advisor be a time approver for paid interns?
No. The time approval will be done in the department.
Will it be a problem if the advisor is a faculty member from another university?
No. The advisor is the only one who can approve that the student can participate in the internship. It doesn’t matter which university they are from.
Is the internship program designed by the department or the college?
Likely a combination of both, but it depends on the program and the university.
Who do I contact if I have questions about appointing a paid intern?
Please contact the Recruitment and Retention team at [email protected].
Who do I contact if I have questions about appointing an unpaid intern?
Please contact [email protected].
