English 460 Captain's Log Internship Dr. Terry Lee ENGL 460. Captain’s Log Internship (3-0-10) Prerequisite: for writing and editing: ENGL 260 or 360, 361 or 362, and consent of Captain’s Log advisor; For photojournalism, ENGL 363 and consent of Captain’s Log advisor. Emphasis on achieving a professional level of expertise in writing, editing, design and layout, or photojournalism. Weekly conferences with the Captain’s Log faculty advisor are required. Interns work ten hours per week for the student newspaper. Students will negotiate an agreement with the advisor and editor-in-chief, setting out fairly precise expectations that answer to the intern’s particular interest and the newspaper’s particular needs. Portfolio documenting work required at end of semester. Mandatory meeting times • Attend all Captain's Log staff meetings • 1 hour weekly meeting of all interns with editor and faculty sponsor. Time and place to be announced. Goals • To bring experience in journalism or business management to the student newspaper • To be a reliable member of the newspaper staff • To develop or improve journalistic or business expertise during the internship Overview Serving in this internship is a privilege. While you are here to learn, you also are here to contribute a significant amount of quality work. For reporters, that will amount to something like two substantive stories per week. The Editor of the newspaper is your supervisor. Work with him or her as you would any professional supervisor in a professional internship setting. Supervisors, in a business setting for instance, are in no way required to work with student interns. The same holds for your Captain's Log supervisor. It is your responsibility, then, to ensure that the internship experience will be a successful one, and it is your responsibility to drop the class by the withdrawal deadline if you believe you cannot thrive in the internship. The Editor is an employee of the university and is supervised directly by the university's Student Media Board. All newspaper staff serve at the pleasure of the Editor. The Editor does not supervise the three-credit course, however; the faculty advisor does. The Editor is responsible for alerting the advisor of any problems in an intern's performance, such as missing work, missing deadlines, sloppy work or insubordination. That's as far as the Editor's responsibility goes concerning the three-credit course. The faculty advisor to the newspaper is your sponsor and your evaluator and assigns your course grade. To succeed in the internship, you must: • be reliable and on time • perform your assigned duties professionally; • work willingly under the direction of the Captain's Log Editor, who is your supervisor at the newspaper, though the Editor does not determine your course grade; • attend Captain's Log staff meetings and Advisor's Workshops, both on a weekly basis; • report stories accurately—above all else—and turn in well-edited, proofread copy. Turning in sloppy work means it cannot be used and, therefore, you have not met the deadline. If you are on the business staff, perform your duties professionally and effectively. Requirements & Grading • Complete the Captain's Log Internship Contract (download pdf here) • 120+ hours during the semester- complete weekly e-mail log (25%) • practicum essay (25%) • portfolio (50%) • reliability in job performance Basis for grading. Your faculty sponsor, the faculty advisor to the student newspaper, evaluates your work and assigns the course grade in the following three areas (a, b, c). The advisor does seek input from the student editor on reliability in job performance (d). Weekly e-mail log: a. Each week, e-mail the faculty advisor a complete and descriptive weekly log, turned in weekly on time. Include a record of times worked and a brief account of your experience that week. A complete e-mail log-print-outs of your weekly e-mails-is worth 25% of grade. Incomplete logs will be graded down. IMPORTANT: In the “subject” window of the e-mail type the following- 460 Your Name #__. (For instance, John Doe's fifth log e-mail will be headed “460 John Doe #5.” Practium Essay b. practicum essay: well written, reflective analysis and explanation of your experience. Worth 25% of grade. Portfolio c. End-of-internship portfolio. This should include print-outs, clips or photocopies of any published material that represents the range of your production. If you have worked on the business staff, supply evidence of your work (e.g., ad sales, a letter from your student supervisor detailing your work, and so on.) Worth 50% of grade. Reliability in job performance d. The faculty advisor will seek input from the student editor on the intern's reliability. Note to student intern: since there is one grade for the internship, the final grade, it is advisable to schedule conferences with the faculty advisor/ sponsor a few times during the semester to discuss your progress. Expectations of student interns: a. that interns will work about 120 hours over the semester-long internship b. that reporters write acceptable copy that is publishable… that photographers, artists, editors, and so on do work that is at least acceptable and that meets standards that contribute to the publishing success of the student newspaper. c. that interns are practicing skills they have acquired in previous work of life experience, or in formal academic study or d. that interns are apprenticing themselves to student newspaper staffers with experience and are learning new skills. e. that interns who experience difficulties with their assigned work, with other staff, or with maintaining their commitment to the internship will quickly see the advisor/faculty sponsor Books & Readings You need to have the proper resources for reporting, photographing, editing, and so on. You may be asked by the advisor to buy a particular book. Generally, for reporting, the recommended text is Melvin Mencher's News Reporting & Writing (any edition); for layout and design, The Newspaper Designer's Handbook, Tim Harrower; for copyediting, Barbara Ellis's The Copy-Editing and Headline Handbook. Assignment Schedule for each week • Attend the Captain's Log staff meeting • Attend the advisor's workshop & turn in your weekly, cumulative log • Put in 10 hours fulfilling your duties • Produce the equivalent of two substantive stories • Keep up with the Daily Press local news and Captain's Log news (reading the newspapers does not count toward the 10-hour per week requirement.)