Internship Expectations

The Department of Finance & Economics offers undergraduate students two options for earning course credit outside of the traditional classroom setting: 

  1. Finance or economics internships with employers;
  2. Finance, economics, or business law independent studies with faculty members. 

Because of increasing student and employer interest, the Department has created these guidelines to promote meaningful and impactful educations experiences; ensure compliance with Academic Affairs Policy and Procedure Statements; follow the standards and best practices established by the McCoy College of Business; and help students, faculty, and prospective employers better understand these options.

Internships

Internships provide students an opportunity to gain valuable workplace experience while also earning college credit. The Department offers internships in two areas: finance (FIN 4390) and economics (ECO 4390). The Department follows guidelines established by the McCoy College as well as standards promulgated by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) to ensure the best possible internship experience. 

Departmental Webpage. The first step for a student or prospective employer is to link to the Department’s webpage at https://fin-eco.mccoy.txst.edu/internship.html. This webpage includes: 

  • Information about finance and economics internships
  • An application form in Word
  • A standard syllabus for finance and economics internships
  • The work log
  • The intern evaluation form
  • Contact information for the departmental internship coordinator, who is the Assistant Chair of the Department (FinEco@txstate.edu). 

 

Departmental Standards

  • Internships for credit are restricted to students in good academic standing within the McCoy College. Further, finance and economics internships are restricted to students who are majoring in finance or in economics and who have completed at least nine hours of courses within the discipline. Note that finance majors can take an economics internship as a finance support elective. 
  • The Assistant Chair of Finance & Economics must approve students to take an internship. The student should complete the Departmental application form (available on the Department internship webpage) and submit it to the Assistant Chair. Because approval is required, students should consult with the Assistant Chair as early as possible. Students should email their application to FinEco@txstate.edu.
  • The McCoy College has restrictions on interning for companies for which a student already works, for doing more than one internship, and for performing internship work outside of the semester for which credit is granted. Further, the Department of Finance & Economics awards credit only for one internship in a given discipline. The student should consult with the Assistant Chair about these restrictions.
  • Internships for credit are limited to three credit hours. The Department requires that students complete a minimum of 135 hours of work for the employer. 
  • The student must submit a work log to the Assistant Chair on a regular basis (typically every two weeks) and report hours worked, tasks undertaken, and skills learned. The work log is available on the department’s internship webpage.
  • Because internships are a learning experience, the student intern must prepare a brief final report or PowerPoint presentation summarizing the internship experience and describing skills and insights gained. The student intern must also have a final exit interview with the Assistant Chair. Time spent on the final report or presentation, the exit interview, and work logs do not count toward the 135-hour minimum.
  • Internships are offered only for pass/fail credit and not for letter grades. 
  • To ensure that students have sufficient time to meet all internship and course commitments, students are limited to a maximum of 12 credit hours (inclusive of the three-hour internship) during the internship semester. The Department will allow students to exceed the 12-hour cap with approval of the departmental chair. For 10-week summer semester internships, students are limited to 9 total hours (including the internship), with no more than one class in each five-week term. For five-week summer semester internships, students cannot take any other classes. 

For Employers

  • Employers interested in employing student interns should contact the Assistant Chair of the Department of Finance & Economics (FinEco@txstate.edu). Employers can also contact the internship liaison in the Student Success Center or the Texas State University Career Services office to learn about the expectations of employers. 
  • The College requires that interns be paid. 
  • Employers must provide interns with experience that meaningfully relates to the discipline for which they are receiving academic credit. Accordingly, finance interns should work on tasks like financial modeling or the analysis of financial markets and portfolios. Economics interns should work on tasks like the analysis and reporting of economic data. Participation in workplace meetings is also acceptable. While administrative tasks may be part of the duties, these tasks should be kept to a minimum. 
  • To ensure that the internship experience meets the academic requirements of the McCoy College, employers are required to provide a summary of the responsibilities and duties the student is to complete to the Assistant Chair of Finance & Economics prior to the start of the internship. In the event the responsibilities and duties do not meet academic requirements, the employer should consult with the Assistant Chair.
  • To ensure satisfactory oversight of interns, employers must provide proof of student hours and a statement (progress report) of their tasks and responsibilities to the Assistant Chair of Finance & Economics. Progress reports should be submitted at regular intervals, such as with each payroll cycle. To help remediate potential problems, prompt reports are essential if the student is failing to meet expectations (such as having chronic absences or tardies, or providing deficient work products).
  • Employers must also submit a Student Intern Evaluation Form to the Assistant Chair at the end of the semester. That form is available on the Department internship webpage.

For Students

  • Students should consider whether they can devote appropriate time and attention to an internship. An internship is a commitment that requires more time than a traditional three-hour class as well as necessitating travel to the employer and to campus for other courses. Taking an internship also limits the number of other courses that a student can take during the semester. 
  • Students should approach internships like a professional job, including expectations for attendance and timeliness, appropriate attire and conduct, and conformance with the company’s policies as well as College and Department of Finance & Economics standards. Sanctions for failing to meet these expectations can include a decision not to award credit. 
  • Should it be necessary, students have an obligation to raise potential adverse situations at the employer with their internship coordinator immediately.