INTERNSHIP CASE STUDY
Department of English & Communication
University of Texas at Brownsville

Your case study must reflect excellence in research, organization and presentation.

Follow the organizational format provided. Clarity of writing and proper usage, grammar and spelling are expected. The case study must be typed and double-spaced, using a standard term-paper format of 1” margins at the top, bottom and right and a 1.5” margin on the left. Use a 10 or 12 point typeface. Case studies should be placed in a folder or notebook. The student’s name, Communication Internship, semester, and the sponsoring organization are to appear on the front.

PART I: INTERNSHIP SETTING (3-5 pages)
1. Explain the role and purpose of the organization with which you are doing your internship. Give a brief history of the organization. Describe the internship site (a photo is helpful but not mandatory), and provide the current staff size.
2. Outline the organization’s current leadership, including the educational and professional background of those in top positions (or those you work with most directly).
3. Prepare an organizational chart with names and titles of those in the direct chain of command over you, from the owner/president to your immediate supervisor to you.
4. List the organization’s “publics” (its audiences, people it influences or affects). Define these publics, using your organization’s latest data (circulation figures, listing of clients, viewership/listenership ratings, number of employees, etc.)
5. Describe the local/regional competition, and report how your organization ranks.
6. Find out how the organization has changed in the past year (for example, new personnel, labor problems, the addition/loss of major clients, new mass communication thrusts, technological changes, etc.)
7. Learn the history of internships in the organization, and tell whether supervisors view previous internships as successful.

PART II: SUMMARY AND EVALUATION (5-8 pages)
1. Describe working conditions and typical working hours.
2. Write a narrative (or, preferably, keep a weekly journal which chronicles events, issues, tasks and results throughout the internship). This should be a lively synopsis of the internship which includes examples that bring the experience to life.
3. Cite what was appealing and what was not appealing about the internship. Tell whether you would consider this type of work after graduation. How has your internship experience affected your career plans? PART III: INTERNSHIP PORTFOLIO
Provide five to ten examples of your internship work (news and feature stories, tapes, campaigns, ads, newsletters, PSAs, etc.). Show as much diversity in your work as possible. Present the portfolio in an easy-access form for inclusion in a standard 8 1/2 by 11 binder. You may want to use portions of your portfolio in your oral presentation to the class. Interns who are engaged in electronic media or multi-media production or on-air work may submit work samples on audio tape, video tape, or computer disk (when required hardware and software are available to the instructor). All portfolio items must be accompanied by a written explanation of the intern’s role in producing each of the items submitted. If there is some reason the instructor should not write on a portfolio item (for example, this is your only copy), please include a note to that effect.