MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

AND OPERATIONS (MISO) DEPARTMENT

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

The MISO Department Internship Program awards academic credit for professional, on-the-job experience in a business or company. Some companies have well established internships. In some, internships are unique and negotiated between the student, the employer, and the faculty advisor. A professional work experience is required.

CONTENTS OF THIS PACKET:

Eligibility, Objectives, and How to Secure an Internship
Evaluation of Internship Experience
Suggestions for your Daily or Weekly Log
Suggestions for the Content of your Final Research Paper
Evaluation Form
Internship Proposal and Contract Form

A separate Internship Application form needs to be completed for each course (MIS 398 or 399; OM 398 or 399) included in the student’s program. The “Internship Proposal” can be printed from the MISO website. Both the application and proposal need to be completed. The forms can be obtained on our website or through the Department Chair.

ELIGIBILITY

The student will have a 2.5 cumulative G.P.A., and have completed the following courses: ACCT 201, ECON 201, MIS 362, MIS 312, OM 334, MGMT 325, BUSA 220, ACCT 211.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Provides an opportunity for students to apply knowledge, skills, and concepts they have studied in their academic work.
Provides potential employers an opportunity to preview WSU business students with no obligation for continuing full-time employment.
Provides students with practical experience and added credentials, useful when entering the full-time job market.
Builds closer relationships between WSU and the business community.

STEPS TO SECURE AN INTERNSHIP

Begin looking for a suitable internship at least one semester prior to registering for the internship. Seek a suitable faculty advisor to serve as your instructor. Hints:
· Watch the bulletin boards for opportunities

· WSU Career Services maintains a database of openings and organizations with interest in student interns.

· Use your personal contacts through friends, family, former employers, etc.

· Some companies contact faculty with internship opportunities.

Negotiate a job description and hourly pay with the company representative. You must identify a supervisor to whom you report at the company and with whom your faculty advisor may be in contact.
With your faculty advisor, fill out the necessary WSU forms and attach to the proposal form in this packet. Submit these forms to the Department Chair for approval. Determine, with your faculty advisor, what the content and structure of weekly reports and final research paper will be.
Register for the internship, observing the deadlines in the academic calendar in the current WSU Class Schedule. Note:
· MIS 399 is 3 credits, GRADE ONLY and is applied to MIS ELECTIVES. This course is REQUIRED for each internship. (OM 399 is applied to the OM minor elective.)

· MIS 398 may be taken for 1 to 9 credits. It is P/NC ONLY and applies ONLY to General Electives. When taking MIS 398 you MUST have concurrent enrollment in MIS 399. This applies to OM 398 with concurrent enrollment in OM 399.

· If you choose to take 12 total credits for your internship, 400 hours on-site work is REQUIRED. For 9 credits—300 Hours on-site work. For 3-6 credits – 200 hours on-site work.

· Internships are 15 weeks maximum.

EVALUATION OF YOUR INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE

The grade you earn on your internship will be based on the following:

· The INTERNSHIP PROPOSAL AND CONTRACT form details the job for which the internship is taken. This is the form the employer completes and signs which you submit to your faculty internship advisor to initially gain approval for the internship and register for it. (See INTERNSHIP PROPOSAL AND CONTRACT FORM in this packet).

· Prepare WEEKLY RESPORTS summarizing your work to your faculty internship advisor. Use SUGGESTIONS FOR WEEKLY REPORTS given in this Internship packet. These reports should indicate progress in each of the objectives identified in the internship proposal and contract.

· Near the midterm of your internship, your on-site supervisor will be asked to submit an EVALUATION of your work. See the form included in this packet.

· At the end of your internship, your on-site supervisor will be asked to submit another EVALUATION FORM (included in this packet) to your faculty internship advisor.

· Prepare and submit a FINAL RESEARCH PROJECT PAPER (as initially agreed on by the student and faculty advisor) to your faculty advisor. This is NOT to be simply a summary of your daily logs. See guidelines for final project paper in this packet.

SUGGESTIONS FOR LOG TOPICS

The Company

What is the purpose of your business? What has made it successful? What do you particularly like about your company?
Go into detail about your company’s product. IF your product is a service explain that.
Comment on the long-run need for your product or service. What technological changes are imminent in your business, if any? What technological changes may be forthcoming over the next 15 years?
What are the names of the trade papers in your industry? Get one; list the articles in that particular issue. What sort of articles do you find the most interesting and helpful?
Functional Analysis

Which functions are the most important to the success of the business: Marketing, Central Administration, Production, Finance, Research and Development, etc? Are these functions in good condition to handle the future growth and/or problems of the organization? What suggestions would you make?
How well is the company planning ahead? Does it have budgets for the next year; for the next five years?
Is the company doing anything to prepare for an eventual transition in top management? How does it attract its top manager – pay, geographic location, potential personal growth? Is there competition for jobs at the top? Is there a management training program?
What are the fringe benefits for an employee in your business? IS your firm a leader, follower, or average industry wide? (You might need to write other companies in the industry to survey their fringes.)
Did the form of organization (Corporation, Partnership, or Proprietorship) have any effect on its operation? Would you suggest a different form than the one the company is presently using? Why? (Examples: taxes, control, liability, sources of funds, etc.)
Is the company in good financial condition? Is it prepared financially for the future? Is it using modern investment analysis techniques to approve/disapprove project, manage cash and accounts receivable, make investments, value its assets, etc? What suggestions would you make?

SUGGESTED GUIDELINES FOR PROJECT PAPER

Competitive Position

What is a main weakness of the business? What would you suggest should be done to correct it? What is its strength? Is it capitalizing on it?
What is the company’s competition? How strong is the competition? What is the company posture—to maintain its position, to grow or to shrink? Does the company have an organized strategy concerning competitive strategies planned for next year, the next five years, etc? What suggestions do you have?
What is the place of your firm in the industry?
Organization, Leadership and Operations

Construct or update an organization chart. Any suggestion for reorganization?
Observe and comment on the informal organization.
Evaluate leadership of superior, i.e., autocratic vs. democratic. (from observed actions)
Describe and evaluate the communications network, including the informal one.
Study process steps, and how some of it might be eliminated or why it is necessary. Show the work flow from one station to the next, and how the flow may be improved. (Can also be the information flow)
Study the possibilities of a unit-wide data base.
Comment on different approaches that may be needed with different clients or individuals:
If in sales, could refer to different techniques;
In administration, how to deal with different personality types.
Comment on success of a particular advertising campaign or new technique. Does not necessarily have to be anything new, just successful in your business.
If any new ideas or revisions are implemented, watch how people resist the change. How is this resistance overcome? Or is the new technique or idea modified and altered by the resistance? In what ways?
If your work is in sales, formulate an analysis of different types of customers and what kind of approach works well with each.
Analyze mistakes—yours or others. What were they? What did you learn from them?
Your Internship – Personal View

As an intern, how were you used in the firm? Were you given many responsibilities? What do you think could be improved in your education process on the internship?
Comment on areas of personal development in the internship.
Has your internship affected your future plan?
What courses in your college career have proved most helpful.