Requirements
- Only those TV/F majors who will be juniors or seniors during
their internship are eligible.
- Applicants must have completed a minimum of 2 CAS production
courses related to the area in which they will be interning. The
relevancy of your course work will be determined by Prof.
Caputi.
- All students applying for internship credit must have a
minimum 2.75 cumulative GPA.
- All internships must be approved. View our
LIST OF APPROVED INTERNSHIPS, and general instructions
concerning internships is available online at Although
students may find internships on their own, these must be approved
in advance.
- Internships carry no salary, although in some cases you may be
paid a stipend for travel or lunch.
- No last minute internships will be permitted. Students
must register during registration period as prescribed by St.
John’s University. Students may not register when the
semester has already begun.
- No student may receive more than 6 hours of combined
internship, practicum, and co-curricular club credit (WSJU, Film
Club, WRED-TV).
Procedure
All students must attend an information seminar with Prof. Caputi
the semester before actually doing the internship. At this meeting,
Prof. Caputi will explain the process in detail and what will
be expected of you as an intern. Applications will be filled
out at that time. No student will be permitted to take an
internship without attending this information session.
After filling out the application, Prof. Caputi will check your
eligibility and sign the application. The signed application
and a Sponsor Acceptance Form will then be left with Mrs.
Rutigliano, who is the secretary for Dr. Brady, the chairman of the
Communications Department. Go to her in room 374 Bent Hall,
and she will give you your copy of the application which you will
take to a CPS dean for a co-signature and a CRN number. You will
need those materials to register. Then go to the registrar’s
office to register in person. You cannot register online for the
internships.
TV/F internships cover many diversified and interesting fields
in media studies. Search through the website carefully and you will
find a variety of opportunities that fit your needs. The Internship
website contains detailed information on each of our approved
sponsors. You will probably need to spend some time going through
it and copying down:
- the names of organizations that interest you,
- their phone or FAX number,
- their address,
- and the name of the contact person who handles the
interns.
Carefully follow the directions given on each sponsor page. You
will either call, write, or FAX each intern sponsor that interests
you. Hopefully, you will be able to set up an appointment quickly.
Send out quite a few (more than 5) resumes and cover letters and do
it early.
You will need to prepare a resume and cover letter. With
some amount of luck, you already know how to do this, but if you
need help, the Career Center offers
advice and seminars throughout the semester.
Go on several interviews and choose an internship that suits
your needs. Find out what your responsibilities will
be. Have your sponsor fill out the Sponsor Acceptance
Form. (attached to your application). This is a mini-contract
between you and the sponsor in which you guarantee the sponsor a
certain number of hours on a certain number of days throughout the
semester. This must be returned to Prof. Caputi as soon as
possible but no later than the second week of the semester in
which you are interning.
Assignments
Keep a daily log of your activities. You can and should
include information about how you got the internship and what you
expect from your sponsoring organization. This may be either hand
written or typed, but will be submitted to Prof. Caputi at the end
of the semester. Keep detailed records of your activities.
You must submit a preliminary report, explaining your
experiences during the first two weeks of your internship.
This should be at least 2 to 3 pages long. This report is due
during the third week of your internship.
At the end of the semester, you will submit a 7-10 page report
detailing your activities during your internship and your personal
comments on its value to you.
Your final grade will consist of:
- Your sponsor’s evaluation of your performance
- Your log
- Your 2 reports
- Meeting all deadlines for handing in all materials.
Your internship should be and extremely valuable and fun
experience. Enjoy it, but do a good job, too. We expect you to
behave in a mature, professional, and responsible manner.
Remember, you represent St. John’s University. Our interns
have gained us a wonderful reputation, and we depend on you to
continue that tradition.
Good Luck!
Prof. Thomas Caputi
Director: Television & Film Studies Program
Room 202, Bent Hall
caputit@stjohns.edu