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Pre-Law/American Politics Internships

Getting Started

You must contact the internship coordinator and fill out an internship application form to ensure you receive credit. Find the internship application form and resources for internship information below.

Internship Coordinator Information

Campus Coordinator Email
Dahlonega Dr. Carl Cavalli carl.cavalli@ung.edu
Gainesville Dr. Dwight Wilson dwight.wilson@ung.edu
Overview

Prerequisites

  • POLS 1101 (American government); 48 hours completed; Permission of instructor
  • For all international affairs courses, POLS 2401 is also a prerequisite
Internship Application Form
Course Work

Methods of Instruction:

Assignments

  1. Students must post daily journal entries detailing work assignments, experiences, and personal reflections on the POLS Internship D2L site. A weekly account of hours devoted to the internship must be included.
  2. The student's immediate supervisor during the internship must complete an evaluation form. It is the student's responsibility to supply the instructor with the supervisor’s name, address, and email by mid-term.
  3. Students must write a paper that is no less than 12 full pages of text (from the top of the first page to the last line of the 12th page). Title and reference (and any other non-text) pages do NOT count towards this minimum. The paper must be double-spaced, with 1-inch or smaller margins, and 12-point or smaller font. The paper must (1) review a book relevant to the internship and (2) discuss how the actual in-service experience both corresponds to and differs from the scholarly account. The book must be selected in consultation with the instructor. The book and any other sources must be properly cited and referenced using the APA style.

Grade Scale: 10 points. Automatic deductions: 1 point per day late; 1 point per page short of 12 full pages; 1/2 to 1 point for formatting requirements.

Evaluation Methods: (grading practices and weights assigned to each graded aspect of the course)

Grading

  1. Supervisor's evaluation = 50% (10 points x 5)
  2. Term paper = 35% (10 points x 3.5)
  3. Daily journal = 15% (15 points)

All materials must be submitted by 5pm on the last day of classes for the internship semester. Late submissions will be deducted one point per day.

While there is no grading curve, the typical class average is around a middle or upper "C" (Despite the often inflated nature of grading, a "C" is average—not below average; and a "B" is above-average). Simply completing the course requirements will most likely earn a "C" (70-79). A "B" (80-89) requires some demonstration of effort beyond just the requirements. An "A" (90-100) requires extraordinary performance.

General Expectations:

Major Requirements

  1. BS Pre-Law students must complete a 9-hour internship for a 2013 or earlier Plan of Study. If on a 2014 or later Plan, they must complete a 6-hour internship. 
  2. BS American Politics students must complete two six-hour internships in two of five areas: Interest groups, political parties, political campaigns, administrative offices, legislative/executive offices.
  3. BA International Affairs students must complete a 9-hour international internship.
  4. BA/BS Students are not required to complete an internship. Up to three credit-hours of any internship may be applied toward fulfilling the requirements of the Political Science BA/BS major, with the remaining hours counting as electives.
  5. A 9 credit-hour internship (POLS 4485C) involves at least 320 contact hours of in-service work.
  6. A 6 credit-hour internship (POLS 4485B) involves at least 214 contact hours of in-service work.
  7. A 3 credit-hour internship (POLS 4485A) involves at least 107 contact hours of in-service work.

Course Content (by week):

Every week: Students must keep a journal of their daily activities and their weekly hours.

Mid-semester: Their supervisors will be asked to evaluate them at about the mid-point of the semester.

Last day of classes: They must also produce a term paper – due, along with their journal, by 5 p.m. on the last day of classes for the internship semester.

Knowledge Base (required texts, optional materials, supplementary readings, etc.):

The general knowledge base for POLS internships is determined by the internship supervisor. Students must also select a book to review as part of their term paper. The book must be approved by the internship supervisor.

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Find An Internship

Find An Internship

For help with finding an appropriate internship, select an area below:

In addition, you should also consult the UNG Career Services Center Internship Resources

Note: The inclusion of a site on these links does not constitute acceptance of their internship program by this department--check with us before applying.

Internship Opportunities and Resources

Law
Political/Government

Many members of the Georgia delegation to the U.S. Congress (representatives and senators) are looking for skilled, competent interns to serve in their local or Washington DC offices. These internships may be particularly valuable to students pursuing concentrations in pre-Law and American politics degrees.

Administrative/Executive/Legislative:

Capitol Hill

Georgia

Federal

Department of Justice

In addition, you should also consult the UNG Career Services Center Internship Resources.

In addition, you should also consult the UNG Career Services Center Internship Resources
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FAQs
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The semester has not started yet but my internship supervisor wants me to begin right away. May I begin the internship early?

Yes. The important thing is that you must complete all of the internship requirements by 5pm on the last day of classes for the semester (during the summer, that would be the last day of the full summer session).

Do I have to post a journal entry every day?

That is highly recommended, but not required. However, you must turn in journal reports for every day worked during your internship by the last day of classes for the semester. It is strongly recommended that you post them on a regular basis so they may be reviewed and feedback provided. Don't forget, you must also post a weekly accounting of your hours worked. Please do that in the simple form of "I worked XX hours the week of..." for each week of your internship.

What should these journal entries look like?

A paragraph describing your day will do. Comments on what you've learned and how it applies to your studies are especially encouraged.

 

When I post my entries on D2L, they appear to be available to everyone. I thought these entries were supposed to be private. Can other interns read them?

Unfortunately, right now the answer is technically yes. I'm working on that. Apparently it is not as easy to make folders private on D2L as it was on our old system, WebCT Vista. In the meantime, please respect the privacy of others and do not look into any other folders except the "Intern Forum" folder (which is open to everyone to share your thoughts and experiences about being an intern).

My supervisor suggested a book for me to use, can I use it?

Let’s hope so! HOWEVER—you must get the instructor's approval before using any book.

 

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Internship Spotlights

Picture of UNG intern Sarah Lowman
Sarah Lowman at McCurdy Law
UNG student, Emily Bailey, speaking on internship
Emily Bailey at the Office of Governor Doug Collins

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