FIN 460, FINANCE APPRENTICESHIP (4 credits)

FIN 490, VARIABLE CREDIT FINANCE INTERNSHIP

 

POLICY AND GUIDELINES

WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

Department of Finance & Marketing

Contact individual Finance professors regarding internships

 

I.            The Apprenticeship/Internship Experience:

            a.   This experience provides an opportunity for students to gain practical experience in a professional, finance-related work setting as part of their academic program in the Finance and Marketing Department.  It requires the close supervision of a mentor/supervisor from within the selected firm.

b.   The experience may NOT take place in a firm owned by a relative, nor may the mentor be a relative.

c.   The internship may not be completed in the firm where the student currently works unless it is done in a completely different department with a different supervisor.

d.   To get credit a student MUST fill out the apprenticeship/internship contract and secure approval PRIOR TO the start of the internship.

 

II.         Student Eligibility Criteria:

a.       Accepted CBE major with a Finance concentration or Financial Economics major.

b.      Have a 2.75 or better GPA in their major and achieved at least a junior standing.

c.       Completed at minimum* the prerequisite courses:  FIN 341 and FIN 440.

                     *Some apprenticeships/internships may require additional coursework; for example, an apprenticeship or internship in a bank or credit union would require the completion of either FIN 444 or ECON 311.

 

III.     Internship Requirements for Credit:

a.       The apprenticeship or internship must involve a significant learning experience in the practical application of the academic finance curriculum. The internship tasks should be meaningfully related to the course work in finance at WWU, should not be more than 10% clerical in nature, nor be involved more than 10% in sales/selling.  

b.      A minimum of four hours per week of apprenticeship or internship experience per credit hour to be received.  (The number of credit hours to be received for an internship depends on the quality of the experience, hours worked, and the amount of additional reading and reports that are done along with the internship.  An internship that requires 16 hours of work per week and a six-page summary report at the end my be deserving of only 2 credits; while one that requires 16 hours of work per week, 6 or 7 journal/book chapters as readings and a 25 page summary report/reading analysis at the end may be deserving of 4 credits.)

c.       The internship will be supplemented by readings from books or journal articles, varying with the number of credits.  The intern will write summaries of the assigned readings.

d.      There must be close supervision by both a supervisor/mentor and a faculty member teaching in the academic area most closely associated with the internship.

e.       The Internship Contract must be completed and signed by 1) the student, 2) the supervisor/mentor, 3) the faculty member, and 4) the FMKT Department Chair.

f.       Registration for FIN 460 or Registration in FIN 490 (FIN 490 requires a Variable Credit Course Registration permit signed by the student and the faculty member).

g.      Regular meetings as agreed in the Apprenticeship/Internship Contract.

h.      Interim reports and a daily or weekly journal, as required.

i.        Evaluation letter from the supervisor near the completion date (not weeks afterward).

j.        Typewritten report to the faculty member and the employer/supervisor/mentor describing the specific accomplishments, the general experience, and the degree to which these fulfilled the original internship objectives.


 

CONTRACT FOR

FIN 460, FINANCE APPRENTICESHIP (4 credits)

FIN 490, VARIABLE CREDIT FINANCE INTERNSHIP

 

WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

Department of Finance and Marketing

 

PART I:  Parties

            A.  Student:  ________________________________   Student #: W________________

Bellingham Address:                                Address during Internship (if different):

_______________________________    ___________________________________

_______________________________    ___________________________________

Contacts:  Phone:   ___________________         E-Mail:  ______________________

B.  Internship Employer:

Company Name:  _____________________________________________________

Address:  ____________________________________________________________

Supervisor:  ___________________________   Title:  _______________________ Contacts:  Phone:   ___________________    E-Mail:  ______________________

C.    Faculty Member:

Name:   Earl Benson        Phone:  360-650-3375      E-Mail:  earl.benson@wwu.edu

 

PART II:  The Internship

A.    Job Description and Learning Objectives:

(It may be easier to attach a separate page description of the internship.) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

A.    Work Schedule:

Dates:  Start __________             End ___________      Hours/Week _____________

 

C.  Number of Credit Hours Requested:  _____       Credit Hours Granted:  _____

 

D.  Type of Interaction with Faculty Member:

Meetings ____      E-mail ____     Other (specify) ____________________

 

E.  Internship Related Readings:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

F.  Interim Reports* to Faculty Member (frequency):

      Weekly ____       Every Two Weeks _____      Every Three Weeks _____

      *Reports should include a statement about the internship, journal entries to date, and required article summaries.

 

G.  Journal Entry Frequency: 

Daily ____                        Weekly ____   (more frequently if tasks vary a lot within the day)  

 

H.  Supervisor Evaluation:

The internship supervisor agrees to submit an evaluation to the faculty member and the student at the completion of the internship.  This evaluation should 1) briefly review the accomplishments of the student, 2) state whether s/he satisfactorily completed the agreed-upon hours stated in the contract, and 3) discuss the quality of the work completed relative to the objectives stated in the Internship Contract.

 

I.       Final Internship Report:

The student agrees to provide a single typewritten report for the internship supervisor and the faculty member at the end of the internship period.  The report should describe the internship activities and responsibilities, the supervision and instruction received, the educational benefits gained, and the overall value of the experience.  The report should refer to the job experience and the relationship of that experience to related academic readings and/or classroom-based knowledge gained at Western.

 

J.      Faculty Evaluation:

The faculty member agrees to submit a grade after reviewing the supervisor’s evaluation, the final internship report, the interim reports (that include the daily/weekly journal entries & reading summaries), and any other required materials.

 

K.  Signatures:

 

Student Intern*:  ___________________________________    Date: __________

Employer/Supervisor**: _____________________________     Date: __________ Faculty Member:  __________________________________          Date: __________

Chairperson:   _____________________________________     Date: __________

*By signing, the student agrees to meet all requirements stated in 1) the “Policy and Guidelines” statement and 2) the above “Contract.”  The student also agrees to provide a copy of this Contract to the supervisor/mentor once it is signed by all named parties, and agrees to inform the faculty member of any changes in the “contact information” during the period of the internship.

 

**By signing, the employer/supervisor/mentor is confirming that the information provided in Part I, B and Part II, A and B is accurate; that he/she will be a mentor to the student on a regular basis during the period designated in Part II, B; and that he/she agrees to do the evaluation on a timely basis as outlined in Section II, H.