AMERICAN UNIVERSITY—SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
COMMUNICATION CAREERS EXPERIENCE–COMM 391
SUMMER 2016
May 9th–August 5th, 2016
Professor Gemma Puglisi
E-mail:
Office Phone:
Cell:
Office:
Office Hours:
Puglisi@american.edu
202-885-2153
703-772-9174
McKinley Building, 2nd floor, Room 207
TBA
Purpose of the Course
The Communication Careers Experience offers a student the first on-site
opportunity to learn about some of the realities of working in the communication
field that he or she is planning to pursue as a career path. The Communication
Careers Experience (CCE) typically occurs before the Senior Professional
Internship, (COMM 491) which is generally seen as a capstone experience.
Course Description
The course compliments the communication student’s formal education. For
many students, CCE is the first opportunity to gain experience in a communication
career path. The experience should acquaint students with actual professional
practices in their disciplines.
Information regarding last day to Drop for a refund or Withdrawal
“Refunds for face-to-face courses for summer session and courses with nonstandard meeting times are calculated proportionately, based on the percentage of
the internship completed; on-line course refunds are calculated proportionately
using percentage of days elapsed from the first day of the internship until the last
day of the internship and also depends on how many hours are worked (100%
refund through 13% of the internship; 50% refund through 20% of the internship;
25% refund through 27% of the internship).”
http://www.american.edu/summer/summer-calendar-2016.cfm
PLEASE NOTE: If you no longer wish to continue at your internship, please contact
your academic advisor immediately, so they can process your withdrawal. Please
also reach out to me should you have any other concerns or issues that must be
addressed asap. Please see section on Challenges.
Professional Component
For a student’s own well-being academically and personally, he or she should not
work more than the agreed-upon hours. The total number of hours for the
course is 70 hours for semester.
A CCE student is expected to be professional, arrive on time, dress appropriately
and be proactive and creative in attempting to resolve any problems that may
arise. Please remember that at all times you are representing AU and the School
of Communication.
Required Reading:
Sweitzer, H. Frederick and King, Mary A. The Successful Internship Experience:
Personal, Professional and Civic Development, Third Edition. Cengage Learning.
2008 ISBN-978-0-495-38500-4. (please note: Amazon sells used books that are
significantly cheaper. So please look at link below. Also, I have several copies on
reserve at the AU library. So please do not email me or contact me and say you
could not locate book or find.)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/049538500X/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=
Additional Reading (but not required):
Puglisi, G. Public Relations Portfolio Building: Strategies and Tactics, Allyn and
Bacon. 2011 ISBN 978-0205824106
COURSE OBJECTIVES
o Improve your understanding of the real world experience and the skills you need to
develop.
o Understand the theories you’ve learned in your classes and fully grasp how they apply to
your actual internship
o Help you gain an appreciation for various perspectives in our field
o Help you see the value of working with other colleagues your age in an internship.
o Encourage you to become reflective and appreciate the communication careers
experience
o Provide opportunities for collaboration, strategic thinking, and implementation.
Learning Outcomes
o Define the relationship between you and the organization you work for
o Examine the work you do and understand the skills and talents you bring
o Apply theories you’ve learned about our field and implement them
o Compare and contrast the classroom setting and your communication careers experience
o Discuss your experience and how it relates to your education in your report
o Synthesize every aspect of your experience and how it will contribute to your future
career
Communication Careers Experience Portfolio
Due: Friday, August 5th. Please e-mail to Puglisi@american.edu.
Should you have any concerns or questions, please contact Professor Puglisi
asap.
The Communication Careers Experience (CCE) includes:
O Weekly journal entries on experiences, observations, insights (A minimum of 10
entries.) Five of these CCE entries should make connections to the reading from
the book assigned. *Please note: these entries are due on August 5th and part of
your final 8-10 page report. So please make sure you are keeping these journals
up-to-date—so you aren’t scrambling at the end of the internship.
O A Photo of yourself at your Internship
O An updated resume which reflects your Internship. Feel free to use information
in the Career Center Library, on its website, and in its virtual toolkit to work on
your resume.
O A thank you note to a mentor, supervisor or colleague within the organization
citing at least three specific examples of how he/she helped make a positive
impact, impression or difference in your internship experience.
O A one page executive summary reflecting on your summer internship.
O Any marketing materials you created for your internship and these
may/can include: Press releases, media alerts, blog entries, social media,
brochures, media kits, etc. (For more examples, please see Puglisi’s Portfolio
book.) Please note: these are items your supervisor will allow you to share with
us.
A few ideas of what to include in your journal:
What do you expect to gain from completing this CCE?
Why did you choose this particular experience? How do you see this experience
being useful to you in your future work life? What specific aspects of the CCE are
you excited about? What specific promises did your CCE supervisor make when
you interviewed with him or her? What specific aspects of the CCE are you
concerned about? Do you anticipate any challenges in balancing the time
commitment to your CCE and your other courses?
What are you doing during your CCE?
What specific activity at your internship do you commit the most time to? What
percentage of your time does that activity require? What aspects of the work do
you enjoy the most (and why)? What aspects of the work, if any, do you not
enjoy (and why)? What aspects of the CCE do you find particularly meaningful
(and why)? What aspects of the CCE do you find less than meaningful (and why)?
Are there any changes you would like to make in your CCE experience at this point
in the semester? If so, what strategy do you plan to pursue to bring about those
changes?
How does your CCE relate to your academic coursework?
The point of this section is to give you the opportunity to reflect both on your CCE
and your academic career as a whole—and then to articulate those thoughts. In
preparing this section, you should consider such questions as: What did you learn
in the CCE that reinforced what you’ve learned in previous courses (including
which courses)? What did you learn in the CCE that contradicted what you’ve
learned in previous courses (including which courses)? Did your previous courses
prepare you for the CCE? What, if anything, was lacking in your previous courses
that would have better prepared you for your CCE?
How did your CCE affect your career planning?
Discuss your goals vis-à-vis the kind of job you intend to pursue after graduation
and how those goals either changed or did not change because of the internship
you are now completing.
Grades
The grade in the course is calculated by weighing the evaluation of the internship
supervisor 40 percent and the grade from the professor on the Internship Report
60 percent.
It is important for the student to note that this breakdown reflects the fact that
the Internship is, in fact, an academic course.
Components of the evaluation to be completed by your Communication Careers
Experience supervisor include: (Please make certain that we have the name/email and phone number of your immediate supervisor. Should that change
during your internship, please inform Professor Puglisi of the new supervisor.
This will make it easier for us to get the appropriate information on a timely
matter.)
Reaction to supervision and criticism
Effectiveness in completing tasks
Working relationship with others
Maturity and judgment
Professionalism
Takes Initiative
Ability to solve problems effectively
Writing ability
Understanding of organizational goals
Verbal communication
Quality of contribution made
Dependability
Motivation
Collaboration
Resourcefulness
What would you say are your intern’s strengths?
In what ways did you see your intern develop professionally?
In what ways did you see your intern develop academically?
In what ways would you say your intern has demonstrated learning about the field as a result of this
internship?
What would you recommend in terms of further professional and/or academic development for your
intern?
Additional comments
Academic Component—The Communication Careers Experience graded by your
professor—60 percent. (Again, 40 percent is grade given by your supervisor.)
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You must attend a one-on-one meeting before the summer begins
with Professor Puglisi. This meeting is to help you with your objectives,
address other questions you may have, and your goals. (TBA) 5%
(If you are unable to meet with Professor Puglisi, you must arrange a
SKYPE interview or phone interview to discuss internship before you
begin. Her SKYPE: gemmapug.)
Photo of yourself at the Communication Careers Experience 5%
An updated resume reflecting the Communication Careers Experience
5%
A thank you note to a mentor, supervisor or colleague within the
organization, citing at least three specific examples of how he/she
helped make a positive impact, impression or difference in your
Communication Careers Experience 5%
A weekly Communication Careers Experience journal entries that focus
on experiences, observations, insights. (A minimum of 10 entries.) 25%
A one page executive summary reflecting on semester’s
Communication Careers Experience (see description below). 5%
A compilation of your marketing materials or written work created
during this internship. 10%
Remember, you will be graded not only on the content of each
assignment but also on spelling, punctuation and grammar. In the real
world, it you misspell the “name of a potential employer,” your letter
likely will get thrown in the trash.
Challenges
Because of the unconventional nature of the Communication Careers Experience, there
could be a higher-than-usual potential for challenges related to this course. It is very important,
therefore, for students to be vigilant in watching for any situations related to their internships that
have the potential of developing into significant challenges—this is one of the important
responsibilities of a professional.
If you encounter difficulties or have a concern at your internship, please contact your
academic advisor in the School of Communication. If you are unsure who to contact, please
call the SOC Office of Student and Academic Affairs at 202-885-2061.
OVERALL ASSIGNMENTS—PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
O Meet with Professor Gemma Puglisi before you begin your Communication Careers
Experience. Please note that the summer session begins on MAY 9th. Your meeting should be
before then. If not, you will need to SKYPE with her. (gemmapug)
O Due on Friday, May 27th—two-page Paper—Please interview someone from your
company—and it can be your supervisor—or someone else—but it must be someone in a senior
position. Ask them about the company, why they chose to work there, advice they have, what
the company’s message is, and overall their advice about making it in the field. Please write a 2
page paper on this.
(This is in addition to your 8-10 page report due at end of summer. The report should include
examples of your work, your entries, and anything else you would like to share.
O Due by Friday, June 17th—Arrange a one-on-one interview (SKYPE) with Professor Puglisi
and provide an update on your internship experience and questions you may have.
O Due on Friday, August 5th—Your final report. (8-10 pages, can be longer if you include a
great deal of your work/examples.)