Sample COM 3985 Internship Course Syllabus

Instructor: Amber Moser | Director of Internships, School of Communications
E-mail + Phone: amoser2@elon.edu; 336.278.6336
Office: McEwen 101 D
Office Hours: By appointment (Schedule via your EJN account)
Materials: Access to the Moodle course

Course Description

All students must complete a professionally supervised internship in journalism, strategic communications, cinema and television arts, communication design or media analytics. Students secure an internship with the guidance and prior approval of the school’s internship director. Prerequisite: COM 1000 and COM 2000 required; COM 2200 recommended.

Course and Internship Requirements

A co-requisite for this course is an approved internship in a business setting within a communications discipline. You are required to work a minimum of 80 work hours (on-site, remotely, or in a hybrid format) over at least 4 weeks for 1 credit and a minimum of 160 work hours over at least 4 weeks for 2 credits, but more hours are encouraged. If you do not complete the minimum number of work hours, you will not pass COM 3985. Additionally, at the end of your internship, you will be required to submit a signed time verification form. If you do not submit the form, you will not pass this course.

Interns will:

  1. meet at least once per week (in-person or remotely) with their internship supervisor.
  2. demonstrate the highest level of professionalism by reporting to work on time, meeting deadlines, completing assigned tasks, dressing appropriately for business, and communicating professionally.
  3. respect company policies regarding work schedules, logging work hours, confidential information, harassment, discrimination, and health/safety.
  4. enhance their understanding of the workplace environment, organization, and culture.
  5. complete professional projects that are reflective of successful application of coursework.
  6. assume personal and professional responsibility by adhering to Elon’s Code of Conduct and Title IX policies.
  7. communicate regularly with Amber Moser, Internship Director, regarding any issues, concerns, or changes with the internship experience. 8. receive an automatic “F” if the internship results in termination.

Civility Pledge

I pledge to treat people whose opinions differ from mine with respect and to focus on ideas, policies, and values. I will encourage others to do the same. We are all in this together.

Learning Outcomes

The internship and course should provide interns the opportunity to:

  • produce media content in written, aural, or visual form consistent with professional requirements.
  • write clearly and accurately using an appropriate style and format for specific audiences.
  • employ current tools of technologies appropriate to a particular communications purpose.
  • show an awareness of diverse audiences in the creation of media content.
  • demonstrate ethical behavior that is appropriate for the professional workplace.
  • think critically and analytically in a workplace setting.

Grading

You will earn a letter grade for this course which will be factored into your GPA. The university defines grades as follows:

A indicates distinguished performance,
B indicates above-average performance,
C indicates an average performance in which a basic understanding of the subject has been demonstrated,
D indicates a passing performance despite some deficiencies, and
F indicates failure.

100–93 = A 92–90 = A- 89–87 = B+
86–83 = B 82–80 = B- 79–77 = C+
76–73 = C 72–70 = C- 69–67 = D+
66–63 = D 62–60 = D- 59 or less = F

All course information and assignments are available on Moodle. When submitting assignments, Microsoft Word documents or PDFs are required. All assignments should be properly submitted on Moodle, be grammatically correct, and marked with your name, company name, assignment name, and date. You are required to submit all your assignments through Moodle by 11:59 p.m. EST on the due date. No late assignments will be graded, unless an exception has been made prior to the deadline, as professionals are expected to meet deadlines.

Course Assignments

Assignment Due Date Points
Internship Information Session Quiz (QR Code) Completed during course registration 5 points
Introductory Course Meeting February 10, 2026 @ 4:30 p.m. ET 5 points
SMART Goals February 16, 2026 5 points
Informational Interview March 9, 2026 15 points
Internship Photo March 9, 2026 REQUIRED
Midterm Call March 16-20, 2026 5 points
Reflection April 6, 2026 15 points
Resume April 20, 2026 10 points
Final Presentation May 4, 2026 10 points
Student Internship Survey May 11, 2026 5 points
Site Supervisor Evaluation + Time Verification To be completed by the supervisor 25 points
Acknowledgment Form May 11, 2026 REQUIRED

Attendance Expectation: Students in the School of Communications are expected to attend class. Students are expected to be on time for class and prepared to work. Excessive absence from class shall be grounds for automatic failure of the course, subject to the instructor’s discretion.

“Excessive absence” is defined as missing 20 percent or more of the scheduled classes in a term (e.g., nine absences or more for classes meeting three times a week). Generally, a student with excessive absences has missed too much content and participation to pass a course.

Academic Honesty: The School of Communications takes plagiarism seriously, just as businesses and other media organizations and scholars do. All forms of dishonesty mentioned above may result in an F in a course and expulsion from the university. Although all of these are clear violations of the university Honor Code, plagiarism is a special concern for communications professionals and scholars.

What is plagiarism? It is using someone else’s work such as passages, photographs, music, video, graphics, and other images, and claiming it as your own. It can be copying work that has appeared in a journal, a magazine, a newspaper or online – anywhere, really – and presenting it as your own. Cutting and pasting passages from the web into your work, for example, is plagiarism unless you credit the source of the material or images. Take this as your guiding principle: If you quote someone else’s words or appropriate their image, attribute the source.

In brief, you may not adopt or reproduce the ideas, words, or statements of another person without acknowledgment or attribution. In many cases, such work is copyrighted. Acknowledgment is required when borrowing facts, statistics, images, or illustrative material, unless that information is common knowledge or in the public domain. (Example: China is the most populous nation on Earth. Or: Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system.)

If you quote someone else’s words or use information or material acquired or created by someone else, then you must attribute the source. Content generated by an Artificial Intelligence third-party service or site without proper attribution or authorization is another form of plagiarism.

Honor Code: Elon’s honor pledge calls for a commitment to Elon’s shared values of Honesty, Integrity, Respect and Responsibility. To be clear about what constitutes violations of these values; students should review code of conduct policies described in the student handbook.

Students with questions about the specific interpretation of these values and violations as they relate to this course should contact this instructor immediately. Violations in academic-related areas will be documented in an incident report which will be maintained in the Office of Student Conduct and may result in a lowering of the course grade and/or failure of the course with an Honor Code F. Violations specifically covered by academic honor code policies include plagiarism, cheating, lying, stealing, and the facilitation of another’s dishonesty.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy: All work submitted in this course must be your own. Contributions from anyone or anything else, including artificial intelligence (AI) sources, must be properly quoted and cited every time they are used. Essentially, you can think of these tools as ways to help you learn but not to entirely create work for assignments such as essays, presentation slides, and so on. You are accountable for any mistakes or errors made by the AI tool. Failure to act ethically and responsibly will result in an academic integrity violation.

Office of Academic Accommodations and Accessibility: Elon University is committed to providing an inclusive experience, accessible learning environments and equal opportunity to students with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Students needing reasonable accommodations should contact the Office of Academic Accommodations and Accessibility at 336.278.6568 or accommodations@elon.edu. Reasonable accommodations can be requested at any time throughout the semester; however, they are not retroactive. For more information about Academic Accommodations and Accessibility please visit the AAA website.

Learning Assistance: The Koenigsberger Learning Center offers tutoring, success coaching, and other academic support services to help students develop and strengthen their academic skills. Students are encouraged to visit the Learning Assistance website to view supported courses and to explore additional resources for individual, group, or asynchronous support. For questions, please contact learningassistance@elon.edu.

Belk Library: The librarians in Belk Library help students find appropriate resources for course assignments. Students can schedule an appointment to meet with a librarian or chat with a librarian on the library website.

Writing Center: Located on the first floor of Belk Library, Elon’s Writing Center in the Center for Writing Excellence is staffed by well-trained undergraduate consultants who work with students on any kind of writing at any stage of the writing process. The Writing Center is a welcoming place for all writers, regardless of experience or expertise. In addition to offering individual or group appointments, the Writing Center has multimedia production studios and a presentation practice room.

Religious Holidays Policies: In supporting religious diversity, Elon has a policy and procedures for students who wish to observe religious holidays that are in conflict with the academic calendar, allowing students an excused absence. Students who wish to observe a holiday during the semester must complete the online Religious Observance Notification Form (RONF) by February 19, 2026. Students are required to make prior arrangements with the instructor for completion of any work missed during the absence. This policy does not apply during the final examination period. Once the completed RONF is received, the Truitt Center will send an e-mail to the instructor and the student that a RONF has been submitted. Students may contact the Truitt Center with questions.

Enrollment: Students should confirm their enrollment in courses through their OnTrack account. Students who do not appear on the course roll or do not show the correct course/section listed on OnTrack should consult with their instructor immediately.

Dropping a Course: Students may drop a course during the designated drop/add period through OnTrack. A course dropped during the drop/add period will not appear on the student’s transcript.

Withdrawing from a Course: After the designated drop/add period, students may withdraw from a course without penalty before the course withdrawal deadline published in the Academic Calendar. Withdrawing from a course during this period will result in a mark of “W” that will appear on the student’s academic transcript. Students may withdraw online via OnTrack. Students should not assume that they will be officially withdrawn from a course based on failure to attend class or notifying a faculty member of their intent to withdraw. The student is responsible for following the official process of withdrawing from a class.

E-Warnings: E-Warnings are crucial for communicating with students and advisors when concerns arise about a student’s academic performance. Advisors are copied on every e-warning submitted, which allows them to reinforce support. E-Warnings are part of a standard process and not a personal judgement.

Student Care & Outreach: Occasionally, students may become worried or concerned about a fellow classmate’s well-being. When this is the case, students are encouraged to share these concerns with their faculty and/or through Elon’s Share a Concern website. Please see the Student Care and Outreach website for links to additional student resources such as identity-based resources, food and housing insecurity, getting around after an injury, and medical and personal leave.

Additional Information on University Course Policies and Dates: Please consult the Academic Catalog, Student Handbook, and the Academic Calendar.