MCMA Nashville Studies Program 2010
MCMA Nashville Studies Program 2010
MCMA Nashville Studies Program 2010
Page 1 of 9
INTERNSHIP SITES:
On the application form, each student must submit a request broadly indicating the area in which they would
prefer to be placed (i.e., production, research, development, etc.). Every attempt is made to place individuals
with sponsors in their preferred internship area. All internships are monitored for quality and will provide
excellent, substantive experience. Students should not expect to be placed in a particular company or niche
area. Internships are very competitive so there are no guarantees. Students should strive to make their resumes
competitive and be prepared to accept any reasonable opportunity to gain experience. Interns are generally
unpaid and are expected to be available for work as needed. Some interns will work in traditional forty-hour
weeks; however, the media business often involves non-traditional and long hours. Interns should be prepared
for varying work scenarios involving odd hours and unpredictable schedule changes.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
Admission to the Nashville Studies Program is selective. Applicants must be a student in one of MCMA’s
departments or in a closely related major. Students who are not MCMA majors must have a reference form
from an MCMA faculty or staff member and must be interested in an internship in the media industries.
Students must have junior standing by the end of the semester preceding the program, a 2.75 GPA in
their major, and a minimum of two recommendations, one of which must be from a faculty member from
their home department. Students who apply to the program and do not satisfy the minimum GPA requirement
in their majors must include a letter of explanation about their GPA with their application materials. Preference
Nashville Studies Program Description
Page 2 of 9
will be given to students who satisfy the minimum GPA requirement. Students may obtain their major GPAs
online at http://salukinet.siu.edu. Students must also be interviewed by the Studies Program Committee and
GUIDES members as part of the selection process. These interviews will be conducted during the first week of
February. Students will sign up for an interview time when they turn in their application materials.
APPLICATION PROCESS:
Application packets may be printed from MCMA’s website (www.mcma.siu.edu/internships) or picked up at
the Internship Coordinator’s office (Room 1032A, Communications Building). Students must submit their
application packets to the Internship Coordinator’s Office no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, January 29,
2010. It is the applicant’s responsibility to see that his or her recommendation forms are included in the packet.
Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. Students selected for the program will be notified by
the Internship Coordinator no later than Friday, February 12, 2010.
REGISTRATION PROCESS:
After receiving notification of acceptance, students must register for the Nashville Studies Program with their
academic advisor for one (1) to six (6) hours of credit. Students selected for the program must register for
academic credit by February 26, 2010. Students should check with they academic advisor to find out how
many credit hours may be received for internships and to determine how the credit hours for internships are
calculated. Students should also inquire about the academic requirements involved. Students will be subject to
the policies of the department in which they register under their respective internship course numbers and a
special “800” section number in Cinema and Photography, Radio-Television, or Journalism. The Admission
and Records Office places the applicant on an approved class list. If for any reason (i.e., unpaid fines, tuition,
etc.), the student cannot be registered into an approved class before the deadline of his or her first payment for
the housing/program fee, which is Friday, March 26, 2010, the student’s acceptance into the program is
subject to cancellation. All students should check with their advisors to make sure there are no “registration
holds” on their file.
All students are charged tuition at the in-state rate regardless of their permanent residence, and on-campus fees
will not be added. Please note that tuition is not included in the housing/program fee. It will be billed
separately by the SIUC Bursar’s Office. All tuition payments must be paid in full before students’ departure
to Nashville. Any students owing tuition after the University’s final payment deadline will be dropped from the
program, and any non-reimbursable expenditures made by the University on their behalf will not be refunded.
Students must be registered for academic credit to participate in the Nashville Studies Program.
PLACEMENT PROCESS:
Once students turn in their application materials, they must also email a final resume to the Internship
Coordinator within one week of applying for the program. Students should use a primary email address that is
appropriate for the internship search on their resumes (i.e., no email addresses such as [email protected]).
This will be the email address sponsors use to contact students so it must stay current throughout the placement
process. Cell phone voice mail messages should also be appropriate for the internship search. Students must
advise the Internship Coordinator immediately should any of their contact information change.
Students must also schedule a meeting with the Internship Coordinator or send the Internship Coordinator a
detailed email to discuss their interests and career goals and to explore the types of internship opportunities in
which they are interested. This should be done shortly after receiving the email notifying students of their
selection for the program. Primarily, internship positions or placements are arranged by the Internship
Coordinator. The identification and recruitment of sponsors are ongoing and determined by the nature of the
Nashville Studies applicant pool. Every effort will be made to match students with positions that are
meaningful, instructive, and relevant to their career goals. Whenever possible, the student’s specific area of
Nashville Studies Program Description
Page 3 of 9
interest will be considered as part of the sponsor selection and intern matching process. The placement process
will begin in February and continue up until the week before the internships begin. The goal is to place all
interns by mid-May but the process sometimes takes until late May or early June. Students who have not
secured an internship the week before the starting date will be given the option of withdrawing from the
program or continuing the process. Students who are accepted must relay their interests to the Internship
Coordinator and register for academic credit before being promoted for an internship. Students must also pay
the housing/program fee to continue being promoted for an internship. Intern applicants will be kept reasonably
informed of the progress of internship placements.
RESUMES:
A good resume is the key to securing an internship. Students should make sure their resumes are competitive to
improve their chances of landing an internship. All students interested in the Studies Programs must attend
an Advanced Resume Workshop. Resumes are the key to getting interviews for internships or jobs so
students should make sure their resumes adequately describe their education and skills. Resumes should be free
of any typos or spelling errors. Inaccurate or untruthful information on a resume is considered resume fraud
and will be grounds for dismissal from the program. Students who did not attend one of MCMA’s resume
workshops during the fall semester will be required to attend one of the two sessions offered the week the
program applications are due. Those sessions will be held on Tuesday, January 26, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. in
COMM-1032 and on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. in COMM-1032. Attendance will be
determined by students’ signature on the attendance sheets circulated at each workshop.
PORTFOLIOS:
In addition to resumes, internship sponsors often request portfolios and work examples from students interested
in internships. Links to online portfolios are helpful but students should also have a CD prepared of their work
examples in case these materials are requested. All students who apply to the Studies Programs must have an
online portfolio listed on their resumes or submit a portfolio on CD with their application materials. Online
portfolios are preferred.
INTERVIEWING:
Competition for internships in Nashville is very high, and most sponsors will require a telephone or an in-
person interview before agreeing to accept an intern. Participants must realize that they may be required to
travel to Nashville for this purpose. Individual interns will be notified immediately if a sponsor is interested in
arranging an interview either by the Internship Coordinator or the sponsor. Participants must actively
participate in the placement process. Failure to actively participate in the placement process (i.e.,
ignoring a sponsor’s request for an interview or failing to interview at a scheduled date and time) is
grounds for dismissal from the program. Dismissal for failure to actively participate in the placement
process may result in the loss of all fees paid for the program. Students must carbon copy the Internship
Coordinator on all correspondence to prospective sponsors.
Many sponsors now use email to request interviews with students. Additionally, the Internship Coordinator
uses email to keep students updated on the placement process. Therefore, Nashville Studies students should
check their email several times a day throughout the placement process. Intern applicants are required to
arrange an interview as soon as possible and to inform the Internship Coordinator of the interview date and
time. In addition, when and if the internship is secured, the student must inform the Internship Coordinator
immediately. Internship shopping is strongly discouraged. Students should also advise the Internship
Coordinator of how interviews went after they take place and keep the Internship Coordinator informed of any
developments. If the internship falls through at any time during the placement process or during the internship,
students must notify the Internship Coordinator immediately.
Nashville Studies Program Description
Page 4 of 9
ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS:
Internships done for academic credit all involve an academic component, usually a paper. Journalism students
must get a faculty member to be their instructor of record for their internships. The instructor of record for all
Radio-Television students is the interim department chair, Eileen Waldron ([email protected], 453-7587). The
instructor of record for all Cinema and Photography students is the department chair, Walter Metz
([email protected], 453-5087). Outside majors should check with their academic advisors to find out their
department’s academic requirements and who will be their instructors of record. It is the students’
responsibility to contact their instructors of record in advance to find out the paper requirements,
deadlines, and submission details before leaving for their internships.
PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR:
Students are expected to behave professionally throughout the placement process and their internships. All
students applying for the Studies Programs must submit a signed Networking Contract along with their
application packets. This includes showing up on time for appointments, interviews, meetings, etc. and acting
in a courteous and appropriate manner. Professional behavior also involves following up on email and
telephone requests for interviews in a timely manner. In the internship context, academic honesty is part of
professional behavior. Misrepresentations on resumes (i.e., nature or extent of skills, year in school, GPA,
involvement in student organizations, etc.) are considered academic dishonesty and subject to the Student
Conduct Code. Professional behavior also includes a duty to represent themselves, MCMA, and SIUC in a
positive manner. Students must maintain community standards, as explained in the Participant Agreement,
which requires getting along with their roommates and fellow SIUC students as well as colleagues and
supervisors. Failure to behave professionally can result in dismissal from the program. If a student is
terminated from his or her internship or from the Studies Programs, he or she will receive a failing grade (“F”)
for his or her internship grade.
HOUSING:
All internship students are required to stay in the housing that has been arranged by the University. Nashville
Studies students will be staying in Oakwood Corporate Housing apartments with roommate style arrangements.
A two-bedroom apartment will house four (4) students. Students will receive more detailed information about
what is included in their apartments at the Studies Program Get-Together, which is held in the spring.
ROOMMATE SELECTION:
Students will be expected to select their own roommates. While in residence in Nashville, students must abide
by all of the apartment complex’s rules and the SIUC Housing Office regulations. These regulations do not
allow coed living arrangements. If students do not select their roommates, roommates will be assigned. The
deadline for selecting roommates will be April 23, 2010.
TRANSPORTATION:
Students will be expected to provide their own transportation to and from their internship sites. Students
planning to drive while participating in Nashville Studies must submit a copy of their driver’s licenses with
their application materials. Students are responsible for any incidental fees, such as charges for lost apartment
keys. Public transportation may be available to internship sites, and some internship sites may be within
walking distance or on the bus line from the students’ apartments. Students should not plan on carpooling to
and from different internship sites due to the probability of different work schedules and the possibility of
extended workdays at some sites.
HEALTH INSURANCE:
All participants are covered by SIUC’s group health insurance for the summer, which provides
emergency and urgent care only, as long as they were enrolled for the spring semester and did not receive
Nashville Studies Program Description
Page 5 of 9
a refund of their health insurance fee. The insurance costs for summer are included in the program/housing
fee. This package does not include access to the Student Health Center during the summer term since
participants will be away from campus. All participants are responsible for ensuring that they have adequate
medical insurance for the program. Students who received a refund of their health insurance fees in the spring
must submit proof of insurance to the internship coordinator by Monday, April 26, 2010. Each student must
sign a Participant Agreement Form, which includes a waiver authorizing the Internship Coordinator to seek
medical assistance in the case of an emergency. For questions regarding health insurance benefits, contact the
Student Health Center Insurance office at 453-4413 or visit http://www.siu.edu/~shp/.
FINANCIAL AID:
Financial aid may be used for SIUC-sponsored travel/study programs in the summer if students meet the
requirements. All students must have a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on file for the 2010-
2011 academic year with SIUC. The Financial Aid office cannot assist students unless this is done. Generally,
the only types of financial aid available during the summer are tuition scholarships and loans. There are no
special tuition scholarships for travel/study, but students may use a tuition scholarship for an SIUC program if
they are already eligible to receive one. The same conditions apply as would apply on campus. MCMA
students may apply for the Joe Foote Scholarship, which can be used toward the Studies Programs. In order to
receive a loan (if eligible), students must be enrolled for a minimum number of six (6) credit hours for
undergraduates or three (3) credit hours for graduates. There is a maximum loan amount that students can take
out during each academic year and for each academic level. If students have any questions, they should contact
their financial aid advisor at 453-4334.
MAIL: Make checks payable to SIUC and send check with note explaining that the payment is for “Nashville
Studies,” and mail to:
Nashville Studies
ATTN: Jackie Welch
Division of Continuing Education
Nashville Studies Program Description
Page 6 of 9
IN-PERSON: Pay at the Division of Continuing Education between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.,
Monday through Friday. The office is located at Washington Square, Building C (in the same complex with
Housing, Campus Police, and Parking Division). In-person payments may be made by check, cash, money
order, or credit card.
BY PHONE: If paying by credit card, you may call (618) 536-7751. Ask for the Registration Department.
A 60.00 surcharge will be added to all payments made by credit card. The final payment for the
housing/program fee will be required prior to the issuance of financial aid checks. Students cannot defer
payment of the housing/program fee. If students do not pay their final payment on or before the deadline,
they will be dropped from the program, and housing arrangements will be cancelled. In addition, one hundred
dollars ($100) of their previously-paid payment(s) will be retained by the University as a cancellation fee.
Interest charged to credit cards cannot be refunded.
Under circumstances of documented personal emergency, participants may be eligible for a partial refund of
that portion of the program costs associated with program fees. Tuition refunds are governed by SIUC’s regular
tuition policies. To qualify for a refund, all cancellation requests must be submitted in writing to the Division
of Continuing Education. The following items are non-refundable:
A. One hundred dollars ($100), which will be retained by SIUC as a cancellation fee;
B. Housing costs if request for refund is made after Friday, April 23, 2010.
C. Any other charges exacted by other contractors, which are designated “non-reimbursable” and which
have been committed by the Division of Continuing Education on behalf of the participant.
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES:
♦ Meet all deadlines related to application materials, charges, registration, and faculty sponsor.
♦ Attend mandatory program-related events, including an Advanced Resume Workshop, the Studies Programs
Orientation (Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 6:00 p.m., COMM-1032), and the Studies Programs Get-Together
(Tuesday, April 14, 6:00 p.m., COMM-1032).
♦ Once a sponsor interview is offered, arrange for the date and time of the interview.
♦ Notify the Internship Coordinator if and when an interview and an internship are secured.
♦ Complete internship requirements.
Nashville Studies Program Description
Page 7 of 9
♦ Keep the Internship Coordinator informed of your current address, phone, and email information at all
times.
♦ Inform the Internship Coordinator if a sponsor declines to offer an interview or internship.
♦ Promptly inform the Internship Coordinator if you are completely dissatisfied with your internship
experience.
♦ Promptly inform the Internship Coordinator if you have been dismissed (fired) from an internship.
♦ Complete academic requirements.
♦ Submit a copy of the required paper to the instructor of record and the Internship Coordinator.
♦ Fill out a program evaluation after the internship is completed.
Friday, February 5 Electronic version of resume must be emailed to the Internship Coordinator.
Friday, February 12 Notification by the Internship Coordinator as to which students have been
selected.
Friday, March 26 First payment of housing/program fee (1/3 of option selected or total payment)
due to the Division of Continuing Education.
Friday, April 9 Second payment of housing/program fee due to the Division of Continuing
Education.
Friday, April 23 Third and final payment of housing/program fee due to the Division of
Continuing Education.
Saturday, June 12 Move-in day. No early check-ins will be allowed. If students plan on arriving
early, they should make reservations at a local hotel. Call the Division of
Continuing Education at 536-7751 for recommendations.
Sunday, June 13 Opening reception will be held; details will be announced at a later date.
Friday, August 6 Last day of internships in Nashville. Closing reception will be held sometime
before the internships end; details will be announced at a later date.
Saturday, August 7 Move-out day. All residents must have vacated their apartments by 12:00 noon
on this date. No late checkouts will be allowed. If you plan on staying for extra
days, you should make reservations in a local hotel. Call the Division of
Continuing Education at 536-7751 for recommendations.
FIXED COSTS:
Housing/Program Fee = $ 2,660.00*
Tuition (Six credit hours at $192.00/hour) = $ 1,152.00**
Subtotal of Fixed Costs = $ 3,812.00
VARIABLE COSTS:
Travel Costs (Round-Trip Gas) = $ 100.00
In-City Transportation Allowance = $ 200.00
Meals And Entertainment = $ 1,500.00 (estimated at $25 per day for sixty days)
Subtotal Of Variable Costs = $ 1,800.00
*** The budget above is just an estimate. An individual’s total cost will vary greatly with increased or
decreased transportation, meals, and entertainment expenditures.
Nashville Studies Program Description
Page 9 of 9