Interns Help and FAQs
- What’s the difference between an intern and a volunteer?
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An internship benefits the student and is part of a degree program. A volunteer position benefits the University and is not part of a degree program.
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- Does someone have to be a student in order to be an intern?
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Yes. An internship is part of a degree program. A non-student would need to be appointed as an employee or a volunteer.
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- Paid interns will use the management intern position. How about the combination (paid
and unpaid) intern?
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All paid interns will be classified as Management Interns. It’s a temporary classification that is to be used for this purpose.
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- If a new intern is appointed for 1 yr, how long can an extension be for?
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There are no rules from our side on extensions. Typically an intern is appointed for no more than a year, but if a situation arises where we want to extend someone longer, we will address it at that time.
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- Unpaid intern will be given the credit. Will that credit be used towards the degree?
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Yes.
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- Sometimes background checks are done at the offering institution. Can departments
upload a background check from that institution?
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It is the department’s responsibility to confirm that a background check was done at the home institution. UP will confer with the department and note on the form that the check was completed elsewhere.
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- Is there a minimum number of hours the intern has to work per week to get the degree
credit?
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This information is set in the degree program itself. They are not necessarily the same.
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- So once an Intern Request is approved, who is responsible for entering the POI in
PeopleSoft?
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For unpaid interns, the Volunteer Appointments team will key the POI information. For paid interns there will be no POI. UP will key the Job Data information.
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- Can a student assistant who is doing research be hired as an intern?
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An internship is part of a degree program. If the student assistant is required to do an internship as part of the degree program, then yes. If not, they should be hired as a student assistant if they will get paid or appointed as a volunteer if unpaid.
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- Will the advisor be a time approver for paid interns?
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No. The time approval will be done in the department.
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- Will it be a problem if the advisor is a faculty member from another university?
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No. The advisor is the only one who can approve that the student can participate in the internship. It doesn’t matter which university they are from.
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- Is the internship program designed by the department or the college?
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Likely a combination of both, but it depends on the program and the university.
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- Who do I contact if I have questions about appointing a paid intern?
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Please contact the Recruitment and Retention team at classcomp@sjsu.edu.
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- Who do I contact if I have questions about appointing an unpaid intern?
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Please contact up-volunteer-appointments@sjsu.edu.
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