Faculty/Staff

At SJSU, an internship for academic credit (IAC) is an internship for which a student receives course credit. Students should propose a potential academic internship to the appropriate department personnel (faculty, internship program director, etc.), who will determine if the internship is acceptable and may count for course credit within that department. 

Students with academic internships must have an University Organization Agreement (UOA) approved prior to beginning an internship. Similarly, students may perform off-site research for which they receive academic course credit. In this case, the student is not serving as an intern under outside organization supervision but rather performing research (typically at a field site) under the direction of a faculty member. Students performing unpaid, off-site research must have an University Organization Agreement for a Research Site (UOAR) prior to beginning their research experience.

Students with paid internships are not required to have a completed UOA/R, unless the internship is paid via a stipend/grant. 

Students in practicums, teacher preparation placements, or clinical placements (such as for nursing, counseling, physical therapy or occupational therapy) are required to have completed MOUs. The UOA procedures for IACs should not be followed. 

Students in service learning placements should visit the Center for Community Learning & Leadership website for further information. 

Identifying Internship Courses

All internship for academic credit (IAC) courses must be officially tagged as "internship" in the SJSU Catalog. Identifying courses with an internship component allows courses to be pulled into SJS4 so that faculty can track active student placements and internship hours. 

• Step 1: Determine if course is tagged as "internship"
  • 1. Log in to one.SJSU and click the MySJSU tile.
    2. The Faculty Center should be visible in the center of the your screen. If it isn’t, then select Faculty Center from the "Menu" list items.
    3. Once inside Faculty Center, click the Search tab (2 tabs to the right of the Faculty Center).
    4. Select the appropriate term (semester) from the drop-down.
    5. Deselect Show Open Classes Only, making sure that checkbox is unchecked.
    6. Click on Additional Search Criteria.
    7. For Course Attribute, select High Impact Practices. For Course Attribute Value, select Internship.
    8. Click the Search button. If you see the message “Your search will return over 50 classes, would you like to
       continue?” click OK.
    9. You will now see a list of all the courses tagged as "internships" for the semester that you searched for. Click the inverted gray triangles next to the course names to hide or reveal the section information.
    10. Look for the appropriate internship course. If the course is not listed, you will need to tag the course as internship so it can appear on SJS4. Proceed to step 2. 
• Step 2: Tag course as "internship"

  • To request for an existing course to be tagged as "internship", department personnel (internship instructor, curriculum committee, etc.) can submit a request for Modifying Existing Courses in Curriculog.

    To designate a new course as an internship course, use the request for New Courses in Curriculog. 

    1. Sign in and complete the New or Modifying Existing Courses in Curriculog request. Fill out all the required information for the course, even if that information is not changing. Click the check box located towards the end of the form to indicate the course is an internship course.
    2. Upload a current syllabus for the course and provide an explanatory note in the "comments" section so that an Associate Dean understands the intent behind the minor course change proposal.
    3. When the form is approved, return to step 1 to confirm that the course is now tagged as "internship". Please plan accordingly and allow lead times for new courses and curricular changes to appear in the SJSU Catalog. 

    Note: If you do not have access to Curriculog, please email your College Associate Dean with your name, ID and email address so that they can request access for you.

Academic Internship - Student Placement Procedures (UOA)

Before registering for an internship course, students with unpaid internships must complete the steps below to ensure that a fully executed UOA is secured and the site is active in SJS4. Students completing research placements, see UOAR.

• Step 1: Determine if organization is an active placement site

  • The faculty or student logs in to SJS4 and completes a search for the organization in question. From the SJS4 home page, click the Sites tab to complete a search.

    A) If the organization is listed on SJS4, the organization is an active placement site that has an existing UOA in place. The student should then proceed by completing the Learning Plan and Participation Guidelines. Proceed to step 3.

    B) If the organization is not listed on SJS4, submit a Student/Faculty Request for a New Site. Proceed to step 2.

• Step 2: Request a new placement site 

  • If the proposed organization is not listed on SJS4, the faculty or student must submit a Student/Faculty Request for a New Site to invite the organization to be registered on SJS4.

    Once submitted, this request will automatically send the main contact person at the organization a New Partner Proposal Form (intake form) to complete in SJS4. Allow the partner organization 1-2 business days to complete the New Partner Proposal Form. After the New Partner Proposal Form is submitted, a follow-up email will be sent to the organization to sign the University Organization Agreement (UOA).

    Note: Students cannot enroll in an internship course and begin an unpaid internship until a fully executed UOA is in place with an external organization or SJSU auxiliary. An UOA is considered fully complete only when a site is approved and then posted to SJS4. Internship placements with an SJSU department/organization do not require an UOA.

• Step 3: Faculty views and approves the Learning Plan and Participation Guidelines

  • All students must complete and submit the Learning Plan and Participation Guidelines [pdf].

    When a student submits the Learning Plan and Participation Guidelines, faculty should review and ensure that they are complete and correct; if not, then they should be returned to the student to revise. Once satisfactorily completed, the faculty and the student should retain copies of both documents for five years, after which they can be disposed of according to SJSU’s information security guidelines. 

    Proceed to step 4.

• Step 4: Student registers for internship course

  • After an organization submits the New Partner Proposal Form and UOA, the instructor/student should confirm that the organization has been approved by the SJS4 team - this can be done by checking SJS4 to see if the site is listed. (It may take 2-5 business days for the site to appear on SJS4 after both the New Partner Proposal Form and UOA are submitted by the organization.)

    Once the placement site is active on SJS4, the student may enroll in the appropriate IAC course. Faculty may need to provide a permission number (add code) to the student so they may register for the IAC course via MySJSU. Once enrolled, students may begin the internship and log hours in SJS4.

Research Sites - Student Placement Procedures (UOAR)

Proposed research site organizations must submit a completed UOAR form to S4 Support Team (s4support@sjsu.edu) for review and approval before beginning placement at the research site.

Download the University Organization Agreement for a Resarch Site (UOAR) [pdf] [pdf]

Paid Academic Internships

Students with paid internships are not required to have a completed UOA, unless the internship is paid via a stipend/grant. Students must still complete the Learning Plan and Participation Guidelines and obtain approval from their instructor prior to enrolling in an academic internship course. Students may also be required to provide employment verification if requested by an instructor or internship program director.

New Partner Organization Placements

New placement sites are secured through a two-step process. First, the organization must complete the New Partner Proposal Form and University Organization Agreement (UOA) in SJS4. Second, the SJS4 team reviews the form and UOA. If the organization is approved, it will then be posted to SJS4. View the Partner Organization page for more information. 

Modifying an University Organization Agreement (UOA)

Organizations requiring modifications to the UOA/R must submit a request in writing (email acceptable) to the S4 Support Team or relevant instructor or SJSU department administrator. An one-dollar requisition must be initiated to generate a Purchase Order that will allow the UOA to be modified. 

• Request modifications to the University Organization Agreement (UOA)

  • Organizations requiring modifications to the UOA must submit a request in writing (email acceptable) to the S4 Support Team (s4support@sjsu.edu) or relevant instructor or SJSU department administrator.

    1. The S4 Support Team or appropriate department administrator (usually a department analyst) will submit an one-dollar requisition and upload the requested changes to the requisition. Please put "internship for academic credit" in the Header Comments. (If the organization does not exist on FTS, please use Supplier NO $ Value.)
    2. The appropriate Contract Analyst in SJSU Strategic Sourcing - Contracts & Procurement Services will review the requisition and work directly with the organization to modify the UOA.
    3. Once the UOA is modified and signed by SJSU (and additionally the New Partner Proposal Form is approved by the SJS4 team), the placement site will be published on SJS4. The student can now enroll in the internship course and log internship hours in SJS4.

Controlling Enrollment in IAC Courses

To help ensure that students are enrolled in IAC courses only after the completion all proper paperwork, it is advised that internship courses require a permission number (add code). Students can only enroll with the permission of the instructor once all proper paperwork has been submitted and is approved. 

• Handling Late Adds for IAC students

  • IAC courses, like all other courses at SJSU, follow the university’s deadlines for adding and dropping. As with any other class, late adds for IAC courses may be pursued at the instructor’s discretion.

    Since enrollment in IAC courses depends on the completion of processes, such as securing an UOA with off-campus organizations or SJSU auxiliaries, as well as CPT forms for international students, it may well be the case that some IAC students request late adds.

    If and when an IAC instructor accepts a student’s request for a late add, then the student should secure the necessary Late Enrollment forms from the Registrar’s Office. 

• Petitioning for a waiver of late fees

  • Whenever a student pursues a late add, they may choose to petition for a waiver of the late fees. Instructors may support such petitions if they feel the petition is justified. Since enrollment in IAC courses depends on securing an UOA for internships with off-campus organizations or SJSU auxiliaries, and completion of CPT forms for all international students, IAC instructors may well feel that waivers of late add fees are justified.

    When supporting a student’s petition for waiver of late fees, IAC instructors should write a short explanatory note (printed on an SJSU department letterhead) in support of the student’s petition. Ideally, the explanatory note should explain the circumstances that prevented the student from adding the IAC course during the normal period. 

Linking to SJS4 from Canvas

Faculty can create a link to SJS4 from a course Canvas shell. For complete instructions on how to do this, view a tutorial on Adding the Redirect Tool for SJS4.

Cal State S4 Faculty User Guide

For detailed information on managing courses and student placements on SJS4, please read the Cal State S4 Faculty Guide. 

For additional information visit the Frequently Asked Questions page or email your question(s) to s4support@sjsu.edu.