ISDS Internship Program ISDS Careers

For more career information, please visit the CSUF Career Planning and Placement Center.

For career advising through the college, please visit Career Services.

Overview

The ISDS Internship Program, part of the CSUF Internship and Cooperative Education program, is designed to offer students learning opportunities outside of the classroom through job experience related to the field of management information systems or management science. All internship opportunities are under the full academic supervision of the Department of Information Systems & Decision Sciences.

The internship program is a partnership between the department and the community on behalf of the student who seeks to gain experience related to their academic studies and career goals. Students bring academic background, skills, and enthusiasm to the internship position and, as they learn about the organization’s methods and strategies, they bring this knowledge back to their classroom experience.

While internships exist primarily for the benefit of the students, many organizations have found that they receive substantial benefits from the relationship. In particular, they gain the opportunity to influence and evaluate future professionals in their field. Students also serve as great public relations agents in terms of attracting full-time employees to your organization. Perhaps equally importantly, the work given to the intern can free up your permanent employees to do more advanced work of a higher priority. Participating in the internship program is a truly wonderful way for your organization to be involved with CSUF.

Definition of an Internship

An internship is a short-term learning experience. It usually coincides with an academic semester at CSUF (Fall; September through December or Spring; February though May) or during the summer period (June through August). At the same time that a student is working and learning at the site, he/she is enrolled in an academic course taught by a Faculty Internship Coordinator. An internship has a definite beginning and ending date.

For CSUF students, the most popular type of internship is "part-time" - 10 to 20 hours per week during the academic year. This schedule allows a student to continue with course work during the internship. The minimum length of an academically-related internship is 120 hours (10 hours per week for 12 weeks). Many students are so enthusiastic that they put in far more than the minimum number of hours required for the internship.

Appropriate Intern Activities

Internship opportunities should provide students with professionally-oriented activities that will enable them to experience work similar to that of a new entrant in the field. The position should allow the student to use knowledge gained in the classroom and provide hands-on experience. To assure that the student gets the most out of the internship experience, students must have attained at least junior level status and completed a minimum of two management information systems classes or two management science classes. Clerical or non-professional tasks must be limited to 20% or less of the overall responsibilities and the student must receive monetary compensation for the work they perform. The sponsoring organization is responsible for providing both Worker Compensation and third party liability coverage for student interns. Student interns are considered employees or your organization and cannot be hired as "independent contractors."

Academically-Related Internships

Internship positions must relate to a student’s academic major/goal. The position description should describe in some detail the duties the intern will be expected to perform. If there are minimum qualifications you would like to include, they should be made part of the position description. A contact person at your organization should also be given.

Duties of the Internship Coordinator

The internship coordinator for the Department of Information Systems & Decision Sciences is Dr. Rahul Bhaskar; Dr. Bhaskar approves the internship position and defines the student requirements for academic credit. He is available during the semester to guide and assist students in defining and fulfilling their internship goals. Upon completion of the internship he evaluates student performance and assigns academic credit. This is typically based upon one or more reports written by the student relating his/her internship experience.

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