ECON 4445 (INTERNSHIP IN ECONOMICS) COURSE DESCRIPTION

Supervising Professor: Dek Terrell (mdterre@lsu.edu)

Coordinator: Ryan Bilbo (rbilbo@lsu.edu)

Credit Hours: 3; Interns must work a minimum 100 hours within the semester in which they are enrolled.

Grading: This is a Pass/Fail course graded on the Intern Supervisor's and the Intern's reports.

Synopsis/Rules: Economics 4445 is designed to allow the student to gain work experience in their chosen area of interest. This chosen area must be relevant to Economics coursework. Some examples may be found in finance, government, and private business. Approval and enrollment into an internship is made by meeting with the Supervising Professor prior to the internship. The intern must submit their completed enrollment form and discuss their plans at this meeting. Internships cannot be taken during a graduating semester or with a company owned by or employing a family member. Internship credit cannot be awarded retroactively and 100 hours of internship must occur within the time frame of the semester enrolled. The supervisor’s report and internship report are due the first day of final exam week by 4:30 PM and can be submitted electronically or by mail to 2109 CEBA. It is the intern’s responsibility to ensure that he/she is enrolled, all fees are paid on time, and report receipt is successful and satisfactory.

ECON 4445 Enrollment Form
ECON 4445 Supervisors Report

REPORT GUIDELINES

Writing Your Report. Your report should consist of at least three major sections: (1) description of your internship company, (2) description of your internship duties and responsibilities, (3) analysis of economics concepts. In terms of approximate emphasis and relative length, place about one-third on each. Because every internship is unique, you may find it necessary to place more emphasis on one than on the other sections. Do not let any of these sections fall below 20% emphasis or relative length.

Description of your Internship Company. Here are some possible areas of your description. Describe the relevant operations of your internship company. You may want to describe its product/service lines. Historical information on its growth or movement into or out of markets is also useful. The organizational structure can be related. With very large companies, you may need to restrict most of your descriptions to your division or a more specific area of the company in which you are working.

Description of your Internship Duties and Responsibilities. The purpose of this section of your report is to communicate the specific duties, activities, assignments, functions, tasks, responsibilities, requirements, and other experiences that were involved in your internship. Creative ways interns have written this section include: job descriptions, diary or chronological description of experiences, compilations of memos and/or other directions from superiors, and straight narrative.

Analysis of Concepts in Economics. This section is the most important in that it is where you identify specific economic concepts you are applying, ones you see being applied by the company either correctly or incorrectly, and/or ones you do not see being applied but that you believe should be applied. In this section, you should draw not only from your experiences, but use economics textbooks, company records and other materials, and references such as trade journals, business periodicals, or other sources.

Report Format. Your report should be in printed format most probably from a word processor. Use standard report appearance meaning that you should have a title page, table of contents, tables of tables (if appropriate), table of figures (if appropriate), major headings, subheadings, minor subheading (if appropriate), references noted in the text where necessary, and a list of references. Make liberal use of exhibits and visuals.

Report Length. The required minimum length is 25 pages for a 3-hour internship (100 hours of practical work experience. Text pages should be double-spaced. This length includes exhibits, tables, references, etc.

Report Due Date and Grading. Your report is due to YOUR SUPERVISING INSTRUCTOR BY the date of the first final exam during the semester you are registered. Note: This is a PASS/FAIL course.

**Note: If you decide to drop this class after you have submitted your internshipo description form, please notify Mary Jo Neathery at 578-3777.