FAQs About Interns

• What’s the difference between an intern and a volunteer?

  • 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.

• Does someone have to be a student in order to be an intern?

  • Yes. An internship is part of a degree program. A non-student would need to be appointed as an employee or a volunteer.

• Paid interns will use the management intern position. How about the combination (paid and unpaid) intern?

  • All paid interns will be classified as Management Interns. It’s a temporary classification that is to be used for this purpose.

• If a new intern is appointed for 1 yr, how long can an extension be for?

  • 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. 

• Unpaid intern will be given the credit. Will that credit be used towards the degree?

  • Yes.

• Sometimes background checks are done at the offering institution. Can departments upload a background check from that institution?

  • 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.

• Is there a minimum number of hours the intern has to work per week to get the degree credit?

  • This information is set in the degree program itself. They are not necessarily the same. 

• So once an Intern Request is approved, who is responsible for entering the POI in PeopleSoft?

  • 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.

• Can a student assistant who is doing research be hired as an intern?

  • 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.

• Will the advisor be a time approver for paid interns?

  • No. The time approval will be done in the department.

• Will it be a problem if the advisor is a faculty member from another university?

  • 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.

• Is the internship program designed by the department or the college?

  • Likely a combination of both, but it depends on the program and the university.

• Who do I contact if I have questions about appointing a paid intern? 

  • Please contact the Recruitment and Retention team at classcomp@sjsu.edu.

• Who do I contact if I have questions about appointing an unpaid intern? 

  • Please contact up-volunteer-appointments@sjsu.edu.