GUIDELINES FOR AN INTERNSHIP
IN THE PUBIC POLICY PH.D. PROGRAM
Students may opt to fulfill elective credits by enrolling in an Internship Option available
within the Public Policy Ph.D. Program. We strongly recommend the Active Internship
for students who have little experience in the "real world" of public policy. A Prior
Internship Option may also be approved for students with extensive prior experience at
the policy level if they wish to go back and conduct an extensive review of a particular
policy issue with which they had substantial involvement.
The following Guidelines are presented in order to help students decide whether to select
the Active Internship or Prior Internship Option, as well as to serve as a set of standards
and guides for performance during the internship and for presentation of the Internship
Paper and oral evaluation.
If enough students are enrolled in Internship credits each semester, students may be
required to participate in a group seminar.
Please note that the Internship is optional. The Program can only guarantee to help
students find unpaid internships, although we will help students try to discover paid
internships. Students who choose the Internship Option should meet with our Internship
Advisor (currently Robert Moran) or other designated Faculty Evaluator (typically for
those in a particular Public Policy concentration) to gain approval to register.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
An Overview: Internship Credits, Requirements and Grade
The Active Internship Option
Why to Choose an Active Internship
Why not to Choose an Active Internship
Approval of the Active Internship
Expectations during the Active Internship
Other Issues
The Prior Internship Option
Why not to Choose a Prior Internship
Approval of the Prior Internship
Expectations for the Prior Internship
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An Overview: Internship Credits, Requirements and Grades
An Internship is an activity which "demonstrates applied work on a public policy issue."
An Active Internship (3 credits) usually involves 20 hours of work per week over at least
25 weeks, although different amounts of commitment may be negotiated for differing
amounts of credit. An Internship must be approved as outlined below. If part of a
student's regular employment provides for focused policy work, an Active Internship may
be approved. For a Prior Internship to be approved, it must have embodied substantial
policy experience and meet the guidelines below.
Evaluation for both options will be based upon presentation of an Internship Portfolio and
a written paper of at least 10,000 words that addresses the organizational and political
context of the policy issue, the substantive policy issues embodied in the internship and
evaluates the student's role. An oral presentation, usually given as part of a group
discussion of student internships, is also required.
Evaluation will be pass/fail; Y (in progress) grades will be given until all requirements
for the internship are met. It is assumed that most students will begin the Internship
during their third year, after the comprehensive exams, but it may be possible for a
student to begin earlier, or to begin an internship during the second semester of their third
year and complete it by January of their fourth year. It is expected that all requirements
for either Active or Prior Internships will be met, at a maximum, over the course of two
semesters and a summer.
Most internships will, and probably should, occur in the Boston area, but appropriate
internships in other locations (e.g., Washington, DC) may be approved.
The Active Internship Option
Students who are considering an internship should meet with Robert Moran -- either in
the Spring or Summer of their second year (preferred), or at the beginning of their third
year. At this meeting they can discuss their questions and concerns about what type of
internship might be appropriate, consider how to find an internship, and what the
expectations will be. A student can explore internship opportunities on one’s own and
confer with other faculty either before or after this meeting.
Why to Choose an Active Internship
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It is a chance to engage and test out your theoretical learning in a real world setting or
to revisit a significant personal experience in public policy work building upon new
theoretical learning gained in the Program.
It can serve as an entree into an area of policy that interests the student or as a way to
"make connections" in the Boston area or elsewhere.
It is an opportunity to make progress with one’s degree that offers the opportunity for
more active learning.
An opportunity arises to engage in some significant work that lends itself to the
internship format.
It allows a student to be employed in an appropriate setting while making progress
toward the degree.
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Why not to Choose an Active Internship
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A student feels confident in his/her experiential base and wants a chance for more
theoretical learning.
 Time constraints do not allow for the requirements of a successful internship to be
met.
Approval of the Active Internship
It is not always easy to find an Internship, but not impossible. Even if one is employed,
the work setting may not provide opportunities to be involved in policy issues --because
simply observing the implementation of policy development or implementation without
any active role in at least gathering or preparing relevant data is not enough. So, the
earlier a student begins to think about possibilities the better. The Internship Advisor
plays a major role in helping students find appropriate new internships or determine
whether their workplaces afford opportunities for internships. Other faculty may have
ideas, especially in the areas of their professional activity.
To meet the standards for a Ph.D. level Active Internship, the situation must include:
 The opportunity to participate in the development, implementation, or evaluation of
one or more policy areas, not just to do low-level administrative work.
 The existence of a written Internship Description that includes at least:
Duties to be performed; a statement of supervision to be received and of expectations
regarding hours of work and length of time for the project. This description can be
written prior to the student's application for the Internship or can be developed with
the student and the supervisor at the worksite, but it must be approved by the
Internship Advisor. If a student is already employed at the agency, a written
description of the work that will constitute the Internship must still be approved.
 Approval regarding the number of credit hours to be allowed for the internship by the
Internship Advisor and the Program Director. These hours will be negotiated based
upon the amount of time that students can document that they will be spending in the
Internship.
Expectations during the Active Internship
After an Internship is identified and a description of duties is approved, the following is
expected of the student:
 Preparation of an Initial Internship Learning Plan (3-5 pages) that will include a
statement of the student's individual and professional learning goals for the
Internship, a summary of the prior knowledge and skills that the student brings to the
placement, and a preliminary bibliography of material that may help the student
understand the experience. This Plan should be completed during the first month of
the Internship and must be signed by both the student's on-site supervisor and the
Internship Advisor. In any case, a faculty member with expertise in the policy area
relevant to the Internship may be designated as Internship Evaluator.
 Attendance at all the Internship Group Meetings held each semester (if applicable).
If you cannot make one of these meetings, you must make a separate appointment
with the Internship Advisor to review your progress.
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Maintenance of an Internship Portfolio that serves as a record of the student's work
during the internship. The format for the portfolio may vary depending upon the
setting, but minimally it will include: any written documents prepared by the student
in the course of the Internship; a "monthly update" of student activities and monthly
statement of the evolution of the learning goals and policy directions; relevant new
bibliography; and any other material that "gives life" to the policy work being done,
i.e., project reports, meeting minutes, policy memorandums received, etc.
Submittal of an outline for the Internship Paper to the Internship Advisor, or the
designated Internship evaluator, for approval to proceed. The Advisor /Evaluator will
make sure that the student paper will fully present and analyze the policy,
organizational, political ethical and personal issues raised the Internship, will relate
these issues to the appropriate literature, and will thoroughly evaluate the student's
and the agency's roles in regard to the issues identified.
Submittal of a completed Internship Paper (10,000 words) and an accompanying
Internship Portfolio to the Internship Advisor or Faculty Evaluator
An oral Presentation that presents the major issues of the Internship. This will be
open to the all students and faculty and each student will present a 30-minute
evaluation of:
▫what they planned to learn from the internship and what they think was actually
learned;
▫what the Internship Paper summarized from that experience and
recommendations/assessment regarding the feasibility of this site for an
internship.
Other Issues
Sometimes internship "opportunities" are not what they seem. Agencies can encounter a
crisis and options for learning, or investigating the past, can dissolve. If this happens in
an Active Internship, the student should contact the Internship Advisor, or their
Evaluator, immediately. Usually it is still possible to write a credible paper about the
crisis, especially one focused on organizational issues of policy implementation. If
opportunities to examine a Prior Internship are reduced, then the Advisor /Evaluator will
have to meet and determine if adequate evidence exists for an appropriate paper or
whether other options must be pursued.
The Program is sensitive to the appropriate ethical and confidentiality questions involved
with writing the Internship Papers. Ideally, the papers should be specific and grounded in
what really happens with policy making or implementation, but all parties must take care
not to betray trusts. Students are urged to discuss such ethical guidelines with the
Internship Advisor.
The Prior Internship Option
Students who have substantial experience at a policy level may wish to review and
analyze this experience in light of what they have been learning in the Program. This can
be a rich and satisfying experience, and much can be learned from "revisiting" an earlier
experience. To be considered appropriate for a Prior Internship, the experience must:
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Have occurred within six years of the time the student registers for the Internship and
lasted for at least nine months;
Have been at a level which allowed the student access to decision-making and to
information regarding policy development and implementation;
Be accessible to the student for an analysis in the present, i.e., some of the original
stakeholders must be available for interview, records can be found and used, etc.
Why not to Choose a Prior Internship
Even if a student has appropriate prior policy experience, s/he may choose not to select a
Prior Internship. Some of the reasons are:
 Access to old records and stakeholders is too difficult;
 The student feels "finished" with the experience and feels that nothing would be
learned from a reassessment;
 Opportunities for new learning, either in an Active Internship or through
coursework/independent study, seem more appealing.
Approval of the Prior Internship
Once a student has decided to propose a Prior Internship, s/he should present a Prior
Internship Learning Proposal (5-7 pages) that will summarize why the experience is
appropriate for a Prior Internship, including:
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A summary of the student's role and level of activity, the policy issues involved and
the availability of evidence regarding what occurred, including a general summary of
the number of individuals to be interviewed and the types of materials to be reviewed.
A statement of the student's individual and professional learning goals for requesting
a Prior Internship;
A preliminary bibliography of material that the student will use to help
evaluate the experience;
A proposal regarding the number of credit hours that are appropriate for the Prior
Internship, based both upon the amount of prior work completed, the documentation
that exists, and the amount of time that will be spent re-evaluating the policy issues
and process.
This Plan must be approved by the Internship Advisor while the GPD must approve the
number of credit hours. For any student, a faculty member with expertise in the policy
area relevant to the Internship may be designated as Internship Evaluator.
Expectations for the Prior Internship
Once the Proposal is approved, the following is expected of the student:
 Attendance at all the Internship Group Meetings held each semester (if applicable).
 Preparation of an extensive Internship Portfolio that serves both as a record of the
student's work during the Prior Internship and of the experience of investigating it.
The format for the portfolio may vary depending upon the setting, but minimally, it
will include appropriate written documents prepared by the student during the
internship; a "monthly update" of student activities in gathering evidence and a
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monthly statement of the evolution of how the student is experiencing the review of a
prior experience; relevant new bibliography; and any other material that "gives life"
to the policy work that was done, i.e. project reports, meeting minutes, policy
memorandums received.
Submittal of an outline for the Internship Paper to the Internship Advisor, or the
designated Internship Evaluator, for approval to proceed. The Advisor/Evaluator will
make sure that the student paper will fully present and analyze the policy, including
any organizational, political, ethical and personal issues raised the Internship; will
relate these issues to the appropriate literature, and will thoroughly evaluate both the
student's and agency's roles in regard to the issues identified. For Prior Internships, it
will be particularly important that students examine how their perceptions of what
occurred has changed based upon questions and perspectives gained over time and
through participation in the Ph.D. Program.
Submittal of a completed Internship Paper (10,000 words minimum) and an
accompanying Internship Portfolio to the Internship Advisor or Faculty Evaluator. If
the paper needs additional work, the Advisor /Evaluator will ask for it.
An Oral Presentation that analyzes the major issues of the Internship. This will be a
group presentation, open to the all students and faculty, where each student will
present a 30-minute evaluation of:
▫what they planned to learn from rethinking their earlier experience and what they
think was actually learned.
▫what the Internship Paper summarized from that experience and
recommendations/assessment regarding the best methods for engaging in a Prior
Internship.
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