Internships
An essential component of this degree is an internship or cooperative education experience in business, industry, commerce, or government agency. These activities will engage students in real-world work situations involving technical problems, teamwork, communication skills, and decision-making.
Objectives
- Involve students in a meaningful work experience, preferably with both technical and business content.
- Provide an understanding of the climate and culture of businesses or research institutions as well as organizational structures, business economics and technologies.
- Engage students in the issues, techniques and current practices of particular industry sectors.
Timeframe
The internship will normally be completed in 12-16 weeks. However, in some cases, companies may want interns for a longer period of time (i.e., 6 months to a year), which is also feasible. The number of hours per week may range from 10 to 40. Details of the internship, including timeframe and hours per week, will be outlined in the student's proposal.
Qualifications
To complete an internship for PMST credit, students must meet the following criteria:
- Complete at least 15 credits of required coursework, including the Business Fundamentals series (MST 6010 and MST 6020) and Scientific Reasoning course (MST 6500) (you do not have to have completed this coursework by the time you submit the internship proposal)
- Submit the written proposal to the PMST Program Director, the internship supervisor, and the student's supervisory committee.
- Present the proposal to the PMST Program Director and the supervisory committee.
- Obtain signatures of approval from the internship supervisor, Supervisory Committee Chair, and PMST Program Director
For more information about the internship, please refer to the fact sheet for students and for industries.
Graduate Protocol