Routinely offered: This course is offered every year.
Students may receive up to three graduate course credits by successfully completing PA 827 Administrative Internship. Enrollment may be during the fall, spring, or summer terms, and must be approved by the Director of Career and Employer Services. Students assume responsibility for any travel and housing arrangements associated with an internship that requires relocation. Students who wish to enroll in the course and receive credit for an internship must:
- Search and apply for internships (many internship opportunities can be found on the La Follette School website and the Purple Google Sheet, but you are not limited to these)
- Accept an internship offer
- Fill out the PA 827 Administrative Internship Agreement form
- Determine the appropriate number of credits for PA 827 based on the work hour guidelines below and indicate your intent on the form
- The form will be emailed to you automatically
- Forward the completed form to your site supervisor and ask them to review it
- Once they have, they should email the form with their statement of approval directly to the Director of Career Services
- If your supervisor returns the form only to you, please email the completed Google form including their statement of approval to the Director of Career Services
- The Career Services Director will review the form and, if approved, will give you permission to enroll in the course
- Enroll through the Student Center by the add deadline
Determining number of credit hours: Students may enroll in PA 827 for 1 to 3 credits, meeting the following minimum work hour guidelines. Note: PA 827 may be taken more than once (1cr + 1cr + 1cr = 3cr or 2cr + 1cr = 3cr), but may not be taken for more than 3 credits total:
- 3 credits: minimum of 320 hours over at least eight weeks
- 2 credits: minimum of 240 hours over at least six weeks
- 1 credit: minimum of 160 hours over at least four weeks
PA 827 is graded on an A-F basis. Students complete a 2,500-word paper on policy or public management issues related to the internship. The purpose of the internship paper is to allow a student to reflect on his/her internship experience and to apply his/her theoretical and course-based knowledge to the internship responsibilities.
Students also complete a 250-word summary of their experience (see La Follette Internship Summary Form), which will be posted anonymously to the La Follette School website.
For additional, important details about PA 827, including paper guidelines, students should consult Section 10.2 of the Student Handbook, Internship Credit.
Summer Internship Support
The La Follette School Summer Public Affairs Learning Experience (SPLE) Award Program encourages students to strengthen their career preparedness and broaden their placement opportunities by actively seeking rewarding and prestigious internships in federal government agencies, international organizations, or national offices of non-governmental organizations, when these internships offer little or no salary compensation. The support is intended to defray some, but not all, of the higher costs of investing in these sorts of internship experiences in Washington, D.C., New York City, other major metropolitan areas in the United States and foreign countries. Summer internship support funds are limited. Students are encouraged to invest in the most suitable experience to advance their career goals, even if they are not selected for an award. To receive internship support, students must enroll in and pay tuition for PA 827 Administrative Internship. Students holding a PAship during the spring semester will not have to pay tuition, but will still be responsible for all UW student fees. The SPLE application opens every spring in March – watch your email for notification.
Students should refer to the Student Handbook, section 10.3, La Follette School Summer Internship Support for full program details and requirements.