Career Path Internship Program (CPI) Guidelines
Effective July 1st, 2015
*Questions regarding the interpretation of CPI Guidelines should be
referred to the Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Patricia Terrell, the designated
administrator responsible for the program.
The purpose of the Career Path Internship Program (CPI) is to provide goal-oriented and
meaningful job experience and/or experiential education that is aligned with a student’s academic
major and career goals. It is not intended to supplement a department’s payroll, supplement funds
previously used for student employment, or provide non-professional duties and responsibilities or
duties inconsistent with the student’s academic major and career goals.
Funding Allocations to Departments:
During the spring semester, departments may submit CPI funding requests for the next fiscal year
(starting July 1st) to their respective college dean/department head to acquire CPI funding using the Funding
Request Form found on the main CPI webpage: http://www.isu.edu/career/CPI.shtml.
Based upon the available CPI funding each fiscal year, determined by the Vice President for Finance
and Administration, the Provost will designate allocations for each ISU college and department within
Academic Affairs, and the Vice President for Student Affairs will designate allocations to non-academic
departments.
CPI allocations and expenditures for each college will be reviewed carefully after each pay period.
CPI allocations may be revoked and reassigned if these funds are not being used judiciously and for the
program’s intended purpose as stated above. Any departments overspending their CPI allocations must
reimburse the CPI program for the cost of the overrun.
Qualifications for CPI Eligibility:
1. Applicants must be enrolled as undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, or graduate students seeking a
degree at ISU. (Students must be enrolled full-time at ISU if they are concurrently enrolled at another
university/college). Students requiring less than full-time enrollment to graduate will be reviewed on
a case by case basis for approval.
2. Applicants must be enrolled in at least 12 credits as an undergraduate student or 9 credits as a postbaccalaureate or graduate student. However, graduate students who are working on a thesis or
dissertation must be enrolled in at least one academic credit to remain eligible.
a. When a graduate student is taking less than four credits, they are limited to no more than 19
hours per week. If they exceed this limit, they are considered a temporary University
employee and ISU is required to provide benefits to these students. Any department whose
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student exceeds this weekly limit will be responsible to pay for all benefits out of their own
index.
3. A student may only be employed in one CPI position at a time.
4. A student must be in good academic standing with the University to qualify for, and maintain a CPI
position.
5. A student may not currently hold a graduate assistantship with a stipend and a CPI position within the
same semester. Graduate students with a stipend may be employed as a CPI for 12 weeks during the
summer, but not during the fall or spring semesters. A concurrent scholarship-based stipend and CPI
position may be allowable with approval from the Vice President for Student Affairs on a case by
case basis.
6. A student who is enrolled in the spring semester and also registered for the fall semester, but not
enrolled for the intervening summer, is eligible for a summer CPI. However, if a student graduates in
May and did not have a CPI position during the spring semester, they cannot begin a CPI position
between graduation and June 30th.
7. All CPI forms, including the CPI Agreement Form, EPAF, and I-9, with each required signature must
be fully completed before the student may begin working. CPI funding will not be applied
retroactively if a student’s CPI employment is started before approval of the CPI forms.
8. Full time ISU employees and non-ISU students are ineligible for CPI positions unless permission is
granted by the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs.
CPI allocations and expenses are based on the University’s fiscal calendar (July 1st to June 30th).
For a department to initiate a CPI position, they must complete an Electronic Personnel Action Form (EPAF)
and a CPI Agreement form for each CPI intern, and then submit both forms to the Career Center. The CPI
Coordinator will then review the forms for approval and forward them to Human Resources. Students should
go to HR to fill out the I-9 employment verification forms.
*No student may begin working as a CPI until ALL forms, including the I-9, have been submitted,
approved, and fully processed by the Career Center and Human Resources.
Typical CPI paperwork process:
1. Student is selected for a CPI internship and has filled out the I-9 form with HR.
2. EPAF is completed through BengalWeb electronically, and the CPI Agreement form
is printed from the CPI website and filled out completely, and sent to the Career
Center separately.
3. Completed forms are submitted to the CPI Coordinator at the Career Center for
approval. (Museum Building, Room 418)
4. Once the CPI coordinator has processed and approved the forms, an email will be
sent to each person who signed the CPI Agreement form stating the student is
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approved to begin working as of that date.
5. Approved CPI Agreement forms are placed in a student’s CPI file at the Career
Center along with a printed copy of the EPAF.
CPI Wages:
CPI undergraduate students will earn $9 per hour, post-baccalaureate students will earn $11 per hour,
master’s students will earn $11 per hour, and doctoral students will earn $13 per hour. ISU departments and
off- campus CPI sites may use their own funds to supplement the CPI student’s wages at their own
discretion.
CPI students enter their time worked in BengalWeb under the Employees tab in the Time Reporting
channel just like any other ISU employee. The new hires’ Employees Tab will appear on their BengalWeb
page shortly after HR enters them into the system. It is imperative that the time approver ensures the student
is accurately reporting actual time worked. A CPI student will not be paid for hours that are not actually
worked. Evidence of inaccurate time reporting will result in suspension of the CPI allocation to the
department filing the time sheet and revocation of the CPI position to the participant.
Students are not allowed to add hours to their timesheet on Sunday because they forgot to fill in the
appropriate time worked during the previous pay period. Once the pay period has been completed, hours
cannot be added to a future pay period.
CPI Work Hour Limitations:
A CPI student may work a maximum of 20 hours per week during the fall and spring semesters (19
for graduate students taking less than 6 credits). Students may NOT work more than 20 hours per week. For
example, a student who works 10 hours in one week may not work 30 hours during the next week.
*CPI students may work up to 40 hours per week during the summer for 12 weeks, however, the CPI
program will only pay up to 20 of the 40 hours worked each week. The additional funding for the remaining
hours must come from the department’s own funding source.
Semester Breaks:
If a student is graduating in May, they are allowed to continue working in their current CPI position,
if desired, until the fiscal year ends on June 30th. Students graduating in August can work through July 31st.
Students graduating in December may work until the end of the calendar year. Each department will make its
own specific CPI student employment decisions based on available work and funding.
CPI students do not need to reapply between the fall and spring semesters if the student’s department
still has funds for them to continue working in their current CPI position into the spring. CPI students may
work during school breaks (Spring Break, Thanksgiving, Christmas) on days the University is not closed but
ONLY when their department receives prior approval from the CPI Coordinator, and if there will be a
faculty or staff supervisor present with them during work duties.
Academic Credit for CPI
CPI students may earn academic credit for their internship with the approval of the dean of the
appropriate academic unit in which the credit is proposed. The Provost shall determine the criteria for
awarding academic credit to CPI students.
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Department Responsibilities:
When advertising for a CPI position, the hiring department must provide a list of specific
responsibilities and projects, preferred academic major(s), and anticipated number of hours to be worked per
week on any job posting. Departments are responsible to ensure CPI students receive appropriate
supervision and that they are performing tasks that are related to their educational and career goals.
The Career Center will periodically audit CPI positions to ensure the participant is having a
paraprofessional experience commensurate with the student’s major/career goals. This audit will also ensure
that mentoring is regularly occurring. It is strongly recommended that CPIs receive formal feedback
following each semester worked.
Departments that have been awarded CPI funds should appoint students as CPIs based on the ability
of the department to identify a faculty or professional mentor and the availability of academic and careerrelated responsibilities for the CPI and funding. Every effort should be made to ensure that CPIs are
representative of ISU’s commitment to diversity.
Requests for CPIs that do not meet the stated criteria will be forwarded to the appropriate vice
president for approval or denial. These requests for exceptions to the guidelines will be tracked and a
quarterly report prepared for review by the Vice Presidents.
Departments may hire new students or retain current CPIs each semester. It is the department’s
responsibility to ensure that each CPI student stays within the 20 hour per week policy. It is also the
department’s responsibility to stay within their allocated CPI funding limits. Failure to adhere to this policy
may result in the loss of CPI funding and/or future eligibility.
Off-Campus CPI Positions:
Students are encouraged to hold off-campus CPIs within the State of Idaho as long as they are a
current ISU student and have approval from their faculty advisor and respective dean. Faculty supervisors of
CPI students interning off-campus should frequently contact the on-site supervisors on a regular basis to
ensure the student intern is having a paraprofessional experience and the internship is meeting CPI
guidelines. This can be accomplished through face-to-face contact, phone calls, and/or email
correspondence. On-site supervisors must be informed of the purpose and mission of the CPI Program to
ensure students receive a positive and professional experience that enhances their career goals.
CPI participants serving in off-campus positions must first submit their time sheet (available on the
CPI webpage) to their off-campus supervisor for approval, and then submit that approved time sheet to their
on-campus supervisor who must verify the hours worked before the time sheet is officially approved on
BengalWeb.
*For questions regarding liability concerns for students working off-campus, the ISU legal
department has issued this statement: “CPI students are ISU employees, which means the State of Idaho is
responsible for their tortious acts performed in the course and scope of their duties. Since their duties
involve working for third party businesses, we could be responsible for that -- but that's what we have the
State Retained Risk program for” (David Alexander, email correspondence 04/29/15).
Out-of-State CPI Positions:
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Students who desire to do a CPI out of state must receive prior approval from the Provost/Vice
President for Academic Affairs. These students will be approved on a case by case basis and must have
duties that are project-based, e.g., out-of-state geology project.
*CPIs are not allowed to work outside the United States.
Terming (Ending) CPI Positions:
When a CPI position is going to end (for any reason), it is the department’s responsibility to send an
email to both Human Resources and the Career Center, with the student’s end date. This email needs to
include the student’s name, Bengal number, department, and last day worked.
Human Resources:
Margo Woods, woodmarg@isu.edu or Katie Hammond, hammkat3@isu.edu
Career Center:
Ambri Saighman, saigambr@isu.edu
Fellowships:
With the approval of the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Vice President for
Research, a fellowship may be awarded to an academic program for issuance to CPIs for a specific period.
In those cases, a CPI fellow may receive a stipend in lieu of hourly pay. The fellow does not have to be
enrolled during the period of the fellowship. (However, it is expected that very few CPI fellowships would
be awarded to non-ISU current or non-continuing students.) A CPI fellow may not receive a stipend and
hourly pay simultaneously during the same payroll period.
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