COOP Internships
Updated 05/09/2024
Trevor Cickovski is the Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences COOP Coordinator. He can be reached at tcickovs@fiu.edu.
If you do not want college credit for your internship, skip everything else on this page. A noncredit internship does not involve any FIU forms, documents, or approval. Please be mindful that internship credits DO NOT substitute an IT or CS elective.
To get started with Internships for Credit (COOP), complete the following steps:
Step 1: Contact your respective academic advisor with questions regarding Internships for Credit. We highly recommend that you register on Handshake, (fiu.joinhandshake.com), for any Internship workshop.
Step 2: Contact the FIU Office of Career and Talent Development (career@fiu.edu) to find out if the company offering your internship is registered with Handshake. The office phone number is 305-348-2423.
Step 3: Work with your employer to complete this Learning Goals Agreement (pdf). Also, complete this Academic Credit Internship Application. Scan both documents into PDF format and email them to Trevor Cickovski. *
Step 4: You will receive an email from Trevor Cickovski indicating whether your application is approved, which course you can enroll in, and for how many credits. The number of credits you can take depends on the number of hours you work over a 3-month period: [10 hours/week = 1 credit], [20 hours/week = 2 credits], [25+ hours/week = 3 credits]. At this point, you can enroll in the approved course (either COP3949 or COP4949).**
Step 5: Two weeks before the end of the semester, email the following three scanned documents as PDF files to Trevor Cickovski: Internship Evaluation by Supervisor, Internship Evaluation by Student, and Internship Summary Report (see description below). *
You will receive feedback by mail within 5 days indicating whether the documents are acceptable. You might be required to revise the report before it is accepted. When the report is approved, you will be assigned a Pass/Fail grade.
You are permitted to complete a maximum of 3 credits of COP 3949 during your undergraduate studies. After that, you may complete a maximum of 3 credits of COP 4949. If you have additional questions, please email Trevor Cickovski.
Internship Summary Report
This should be a 10-12 page report that contains each of the following sections, each beginning on a new page.
1. A cover page with your name, company name, date, and internship title (3-10 words).
2. An updated copy of your resume.
3. Introduction: Identify the company name, its mission, major products, and organizational structure.
4. Job Description: Explain the specific duties assigned to you, and which products you helped create.
5. Learning goals: A copy of the Learning Goals document signed by your supervisor.
6. Relation to courses taken at FIU: Which of your FIU courses related to the internship, and in what ways did they prepare you for the work?
7. Conclusion: How did the organization meet your learning goals? Relate how your work experience has helped clarify your career goals.
8. Appraisal forms: Include copies of both the Employer and Student Internship Evaluation forms.
Unpaid Internships
If an employer offers you an unpaid internship, they are required by law to create an educational experience for you. The internship must be for your benefit, not the direct benefit of the employer. You cannot perform work that would otherwise be done by a paid employee. The government rules are spelled out at the Department of Labor Website: http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.pdf In recent years, lawsuits have been filed by interns against employers who violate these rules.
* Or acceptable alternative agreed upon by student, COOP coordinator, and employer.
** International students applying for CPT should register for 1 credit if the internship is part-time (20 hours or less), and 3 credits if the internship is full-time (21 hours or more).