UB - University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

CSE 496/598 Internship Procedure

CSE 496/598 is open only to computer science majors after consultation with their Academic Advisors, who must approve of the internship plans. The objective is to provide students with the opportunity to perform in a real-life work environment and to gain hands-on experience with a company in the field of their major.

In order to get academic credit for an internship, you must register for CSE496 (undergraduate students) or CSE598 (graduate students). A number of people are involved in the registration process. They are:

• The Academic Advisor: your Academic Advisor
• The Internship Supervisor: the person you'll be working for during the internship
• The Internship Coordinator: the CSE faculty member central to all the forms (Dr. Kris Schindler)
• The CSE Secretary: the person who will force register you into your internship
  • Undergraduate students registering for 496 will deal with the CSE Undergraduate Secretary Jaynee Straw)
  • Graduate students registering for 598 will deal with the CSE Graduate Secretary (Elizabeth Lesny)

The people identified above will be identified in the remaining document by their title.

I. Locate internship opportunity

You are responsible for locating your internship opportunity and, in consultation with your Academic Advisor, applying for it. This means that you will need to contact potential internship locations; submit your resume, cover letter and whatever other documentation is required; arrange the interviews, etc. Here is a list of guidelines to help you through the process.

Here are some sources for internships:

• Newsgroups
  • sunyab.cse.grads
  • sunyab.cse.undergrads
  • sunyab.ece.grad
  • wny.jobs.offered
  • any other newsgroups which might apply to you
• The Career Counseling Web Site
  • Go to (http://www.ub-careers.buffalo.edu) (then select "Internship Vacancy Listings").
• UB Job Fairs
  • These are scheduled several times per year. For a complete listing, see www.ub-careers.buffalo.edu/calendar.shtml.
• Companies for which you think you might like to work
  • Write to a company that interests you and ask if there are any summer positions available; be sure to include your resume.
• Other students
  • Talk to students who have completed internships to find out how they located their internships; they might be able to provide you with names of companies that use summer interns and/or contacts within the company.

II. Complete the Internship Forms

In order to register, there are five (5) forms that need to be filled out and submitted (see below for dates of submission) to the Internship Coordinator. You may submit the forms to the Internship Coordinator by:

• Hand delivering
• US Mail
• Campus Mail
• Fax (716-645-3464)

You can get the forms in a number of ways:

• From this web page (see links below)
• On a rack in the hall outside 251 Bell Hall
• From Jaynee Straw
• From Dr. Kris Schindler

Here are the five (5) CSE 496/598 forms:

These three (3) forms are due at the start of the semester, (after you are registered for CSE 496/598):

1. Engineering Internship Form

• Submit to the Internship Coordinator

2. Internship Confirmation Form

• Submit to the Internship Coordinator

3. Application Form

• Fill this out as completely as possible.
• The "Project Definition" field
  • Asks for a general statement about the nature of the work you will be doing (programming, data base design, etc.)
  • Asks for a description of specific tasks you will be doing.
• The "Skill/Education Requirements" field (a) and (b) asks for a list of abilities that you bring to the job.
• Once the form is completed, you need to:
  • Sign the form yourself
  • Make sure that this form is signed and dated by your academic advisor. You will not be able to register without your advisor's signature because you will need to be force registered.
  • Bring this form to the CSE Secretary when you are ready to register for CSE496 or CSE598 (see step IV below).

These two (2) forms are due on the last day of classes of the semester you are doing your internship.

4. Internship Evaluation Form

• Give this form to your Internship Supervisor before you begin your internship so that he/she knows what the evaluation criteria are.
• Before the form is due, it must be signed by your Internship Supervisor.
• Failure to submit this form in time will result in the grade of "I" for the internship.

5. Letter from Dean Millar and "Strategic Partnership for Industrial Resurgence" (SPIR) form

• This document contains both a letter (which explains the form) and the form.
• The form provides information for a report about the internship program that the Dean's Office sends to Albany every semester; this form is very important to the Dean's Office.
• The form is to be filled out by you; if you are unsure how to answer some of the sections, ask your Internship Supervisor.
• In the "Technical Impact" section write your name in the space labeled "Student(s) Involved".
• Have the form signed by both your Internship Supervisor and your Academic Advisor.

III. Complete ISSS paperwork (International Students Only)

International (F-1) students must apply for Curricular Practical Training or Optional Practical Training in order to be eligible for the internship. The ISSS Office is the authoritative source for information on these types of practical training. The forms may be picked up at the ISSS office, 210 Talbert Hall. Processing CPT requests takes approximately 5-7 business days; processing OPT requests takes approximately 4-6 weeks.

IV. Register for CSE 496 or CSE 598

You will register for either CSE 496 or CSE 598. Both courses require force registration to ensure that all the necessary forms are filled out and to assist in tracking intern progress.

Undergraduates may register for up to 5 credits of CSE 496; graduate students may register for 1 credit of CSE 598. Each credit of academic work requires a minimum of 3 hours of internship work per week for 14 weeks.

Example:
3.0 academic credits
X 3 hours of work per credit per week

9.0 hours of work per week
X 14 weeks
126 total hours of work over the semester.

The maximum number of hours an intern can work during the fall and spring semesters is 20; during the summer semester is 40 hours. The grade for CSE 598 will be S/U; for CSE 496 will be P/F.