ACCT 390/BA 490 - Internship in Accounting

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The Department of Accounting strongly recommends that students do not seek “career learning experiences” while they are taking 300-level accounting courses.  “Career learning experiences” are job opportunities with duties that are largely mundane and include a significant amount of office administrative activities (e.g., filing, running errands, etc.).

Students if you plan on applying for Internship Credit, you must APPLY prior to starting your internship.

Internship Credit Information

ACCT 390 – Internship in Accounting (3 hrs).

Information

Accounting Students may enroll in  ACCT 390 (Internship in Accounting – 3 hours) provided they meet the prerequisites:  ACCT 300 or an equivalent course, a minimum of six hours of upper-level accounting courses at WKU, a 2.75 GPA overall, a 2.5 GPA in upper-level accounting courses, and permission of the Accounting Department Chair.

The career-related learning experience must include relevant and meaningful full-time accounting work experience outside the classroom in a supervised setting with a cooperating business or not-for-profit organization.  The course is graded on a pass/fail basis.

The student should not be enrolled in coursework during the period of the career-related learning experience.  The student must be willing to take a semester off or find a summer opportunity.

The Internship must be a paid position based on market compensation for entry level positions.

In addition, there must be an understanding between the Department Chair and the firm/organization as to the intern responsibilities for the student.  

In collaboration with the firm/organization, the student prepares and submits three or four broad learning objectives prior to the beginning of the internship in collaboration with the firm/organization.  Upon review and approval of the student prepared learning objectives, the Department Chair communicates with the student and the firm/organization.

The Department Chair may visit the firm/organization during the period of student engagement, but it is not mandatory.

Grade Determination

The student must maintain a contemporaneous log of selected activities each week and link those activities to one of the 3 or 4 LOs. 

The log is submitted to the Department Chair at the end of the engagement.  

A letter of evaluation from the immediate supervisor of the student is forwarded directly to the Department Chair at the end of the engagement.

A pass/fail grade is determined based on the log and the letter – and if there was an onsite visit, the observations are also part of the grading process.

BA 490

In some cases, accounting students find an internship opportunity on a part-time basis.  BA 490 (College of Business Internship) is available on a 1-3 hour basis.  The policy is the same in terms of the requirements except the student is allowed to take some coursework.

Disability

Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Student Accessibility Resource Center, Downing Student Union, First Floor, 1074. The SARC telephone number is (270) 745-5004. Per University policy, please DO NOT request accommodations directly from the professor or instructor without a letter of accommodation from the SARC.

Employer Internship Terms of Agreement

Internships are an educational opportunity. An internship consists of services for experience between a student and an employer. Internships help students to determine if they have an interest in a particular career, help them create a network of contacts and in some cases achieve course credit. Some interns find permanent, paid employment with the organizations for which they worked upon completion of the internship.

Interns may or may not be receiving hours of upper-level academic credit from the Gordon Ford College of Business for completing their internship with a participating business. No matter the circumstance, GFCB appreciates the opportunity for students to receive legitimate, real-world experience that is directly related to the student’s major. Routine filing, copying and answering phones are important parts of jobs; however these duties and responsibilities should not represent more than approximately 25% of the interns’ activities. If an intern is receiving course credit, please abide by the number of hours they must work in order to receive their credit.

By submitting the application for Internship Credit, the student confirms that the employer is aware of the Employer Internship Terms of Agreement.

Click here to see how you can apply for internship credit