ACCT 4800 – ACCOUNTING INTERNSHIP
SYLLABUS AND
GUIDELINES
Course Description
At
Our
goal for the Accounting Internship course is to provide you with the
opportunity to earn academic credit for experiential learning in a business
environment. We encourage you to seek
out internship positions which will allow you to both explore career
opportunities and develop your business skills.
Note: The Internship Director will work with
both students and potential employers to share information about internship
opportunities, but it is the student’s responsibility to obtain the
internship. To receive academic credit,
the position must be preapproved by the Director.
To
be considered for academic credit an internship experience must meet these
criteria:
1) the internship assignment must offer a new
learning experience (i.e., you may not continue the same responsibilities at
your current job and receive credit);
2) the internship must offer opportunities to
explore a career field or develop new skills; and
3) the internship must offer interaction with
the top managers in your location to allow for your learning about strategic
decisions and the “big picture” view of the operation. By signing the Supervisor’s Agreement (Form
II) the managers acknowledge and accept their roles in the teaching and
mentoring process.
Students
may register for academic credit of one hour to six semester hours. Credit hours are earned on the basis of both
the number of contact hours completed and the level of responsibility assumed
in the internship position. As a guideline, interns should expect to
complete 40 hours of documented contact time for each credit hour requested.
While
we encourage you to seek paid positions (both you and the employer will take
things more seriously), we recognize that some interns may need to volunteer to
work without compensation to obtain the opportunities which they desire. Volunteer experiences receive the same
academic credit as paid internships.
Students may complete more than one internship and may register for this course in more than one semester or summer term, but are limited to a total of six credit hours for this course.
Documentation/Evaluation
The following five documents
must be satisfactorily completed and on file with the Internship Director no
later than the Friday before finals week if you wish to receive credit for this
course:
1) an
internship proposal on Form I of
this syllabus (turn in as soon as possible);
2) a
supervisor’s agreement on Form II of
this syllabus (turn in as soon as possible);
3) a
logbook of your internship experience as described on Form III of this syllabus;
4) an intern’s narrative evaluation paper which answers the 10 questions
listed on the attached Form IV (can be included in the logbook);
5) a
supervisor’s evaluation completed by your supervisor on the attached Form V.
Accounting
internships are graded on a credit/non-credit basis. No letter grades are assigned. If all requirements are met and a grade of
“credit” is earned, the student will receive credit for the approved number of
hours. This credit is applied to
graduation requirements but is not included when calculating the student’s
overall or departmental grade point average.
ACCT 4800 - Accounting Internship Proposal (Form I)
Student
name ___________________________________________________________
Addresses
and phone numbers where you can be reached during internship:
Home___________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________Email____________________
Work___________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________Email____________________
Name
of company
________________________________________________________
Name
and title of supervisor ________________________________________________
Supervisor’s
address and phone numbers_______________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________Email__________________
Beginning
date of internship _______________Ending date of internship _____________
Number
of credit hours requested ____________________________________________
Describe
the general nature and responsibilities of the internship:
Describe
the learning you seek from this experience:
What
days and hours will you work?
ACCT 4800 -
Accounting Internship Course
Internship
Supervisor’s Agreement (Form II)
Dear Internship Supervisor,
Thank you for agreeing to
offer an
Here at AU we have a long
tradition of encouraging hands-on, experiential learning as part of our
student’s educational experience. While
we do all that we can to expose students to the cutting edge of business education
in the classroom, it is in the marketplace in firms like yours that learning
truly comes alive.
We have designed our
internship program to minimize the paperwork and hassle for you. All that we ask is that you return this
completed form at the beginning of your intern’s work to notify the Internship
Director that you have agreed to supervise a business intern. Then, at the end of the internship, your
intern will provide a brief form for your evaluation of his/her performance and
learning. Please mail both forms directly to the Internship Director at the
address below.
Thanks again for your
support of business education at
Name
of intern ____________________________________________________________
Name
and address of firm __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Your name and title ________________________________________________________
Email_____________________________________________________________________
Yes, I have agreed to
mentor and supervise the intern noted above and will complete an evaluation of
his/her performance and learning at the end of the internship.
Signature ________________________________________ Phone _______________
Please mail to: Internship Director
ACCT 4800 -
Accounting Internship Course
Internship
Supervisor’s Agreement (Form II)
Dear Internship Supervisor,
Thank you for agreeing to
offer an
Here at AU we have a long
tradition of encouraging hands-on, experiential learning as part of our
student’s educational experience. While
we do all that we can to expose students to the cutting edge of business
education in the classroom, it is in the marketplace in firms like yours that
learning truly comes alive.
We have designed our
internship program to minimize the paperwork and hassle for you. All that we ask is that you return this
completed form at the beginning of your intern’s work to notify the Internship
Director that you have agreed to supervise a business intern. Then, at the end of the internship, your
intern will provide a brief form for your evaluation of his/her performance and
learning. Please mail both forms directly to the Internship Director at the
address below.
Thanks again for your
support of business education at
Name
of intern ____________________________________________________________
Name
and address of firm __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Your name and title ________________________________________________________
Email_____________________________________________________________________
Yes, I have agreed to mentor and supervise the intern noted above and will complete an evaluation of his/her performance and learning at the end of the internship.
Signature ________________________________________ Phone _______________
Please mail to: Internship Director
ACCT 4800 -
Accounting Internship
Format
Guidelines for Internship Logbook
(Form III)
Your logbook should be more than a mere diary or journal. Your log should be a record of your learning in which you:
1) give detailed descriptions of your work experiences,
2) evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the structures and policies you observe in your internship organization, and
3) identify the similarities or contradictions between what you have studied in your classes and what you are seeing in your work environment.
You are free to be creative in determining the physical “look” of your logbook, but its final form should be one that would be appropriate for presentation to the top managers of your internship organization. Some supervisors request such a presentation. Ask if you can present your logbook and findings to top management.
Your use of graphs, pictures, brochures, examples of your work, diagrams of the work layout, transcripts of interviews of managers and clients, etc. should all be packaged to show what you have learned about yourself and this work environment.
1. The term “appropriate for presentation to the top managers” means that this log should be typed, well organized, and have a professional look and quality throughout. If the nature and location of your internship make access to computer resources impossible, you may submit a handwritten log if absolutely necessary. (We’ve had interns work in the Amazon rain forests.) If you do so, at the beginning of your presentation please include an explanation of why your log has taken this form.
2. Your log entries should show on at least a weekly basis some documentation of hours worked, assignments given by your supervisor, and details of your learning while performing those duties.
Continued, next page…
3. As noted above, you should compare and contrast your experiences on the job with the information you are studying in your classroom courses. How could what you are studying in, say, accounting help provide better information for decision making by your firm’s managers?
4. The final section of your logbook should contain your evaluation of this learning experience. This evaluation should be in the form of brief essays which answer the questions on Form IV of this syllabus. You will want to review these questions at the beginning of your internship and keep notes of your experiences which will help you to answer them when completing this evaluation.
Due dates
As noted earlier, all internship materials may be submitted whenever they are completed, but all materials must be on file by the Friday before finals week of the semester in which you are registered for BSNS 4800.
ACCT 4800 -
Accounting Internship
Intern’s Final
Evaluation of Internship Experience
(Form IV)
The final section of your Internship Logbook should be an essay style evaluation of your experience answering the following questions:
1.
Analyze your work describing in detail the abilities/qualities it
demanded of you.
2.
Analyze yourself regarding these abilities/qualities. Did you possess them or did you develop them
during your internship?
3.
In this organization, do the abilities and qualities demanded of the
supervisors and managers differ from those of the front line workers? How and why?
4.
Having experienced the work in this organizational setting, how would
you operate if asked to manage the enterprise and supervise others performing
your duties? Discuss both structural
(rules, procedures, job descriptions, etc.) and human relations aspects.
5.
How has your academic preparation helped you to perform on the
job? Where has it failed to properly
prepare you for the requirements of this job?
Why?
6.
Has your internship experience helped you to perform better
academically? Please explain giving
specific examples wherever possible.
7.
What feedback from supervisors or peers did you most appreciate in your
work? What did you most resent? Why?
What does this tell you about yourself?
About the managers' role?
8.
Can you see yourself doing this type of work for the rest of your
life? Why or why not? What does your answer tell you about your
interests, abilities, and values?
9.
What is society’s view of this industry and of your job? Is this view accurate? What do you believe makes a given job and
career valuable? Explain your answers.
10.
At the AU School of Business we stress the importance of being people
of Christian faith who live as “salt and light” in the workplace. Do you see ways that your faith could make a
difference in the way you do this job?
Supervisor’s
Evaluation of Intern
(Form V)
Note:
Please discuss this information with the intern before mailing.
Date
___________________
Name
of intern _______________________________________________________________
Your
name and title ___________________________________________________________
Name
of your firm ____________________________________________________________
Description
of intern’s assignment:
Please
rate the intern’s performance on the following characteristics:
Poor Fair Good Excellent
1. Interest in work ___ ___
___ ___
2. Accuracy ___ ___
___ ___
3. Neatness of work ___ ___
___ ___
4. Speed completing assignments ___ ___
___ ___
5. Ability to work with others ___ ___
___ ___
6. Poise with clients and staff ___ ___
___ ___
7. Punctuality and attendance ___ ___
___ ___
8. Personal appearance (appropriateness) ___ ___ ___ ___
9. Other ______________________________ ___ ___ ___ ___
please
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1
Supervisor’s Evaluation of
Intern, continued...
Please
comment on the following:
Does
the intern demonstrate any weaknesses that you believe would hinder his/her
success? How might the intern improve on
these in the future?
What
do you see as the intern’s strengths?
What
would you recommend that this intern do in his/her remaining time at
Your
name _____________________________________ Title ____________________
Please
mail this form to: Internship
Director
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