Faculty/Staff

At SJSU, an internship for academic credit (IAC) is an internship for which a student receives course credit. Students should propose a potential academic internship to the appropriate department personnel (faculty, internship program director, etc.), who will determine if the internship is acceptable and may count for course credit within that department. 

Students with unpaid internships must have an UOA approved prior to beginning an internship. Students with paid internships are not required to have a completed UOA, unless the internship is paid via a stipend/grant.

Students in practicums, teacher preparation placements, or clinical placements (such as for nursing, counseling, physical therapy or occupational therapy) are required to have completed MOUs. The UOA procedures for IACs should not be followed. 

Students in service learning placements should visit the Center for Community Learning & Leadership website for further information. 


Identifying Internship Courses

All internship for academic credit (IAC) courses must be officially tagged as "internship" in the SJSU Catalog. Identifying courses with an internship component allows courses to be pulled into SJS4 so that faculty can track active student placements and internship hours. 


Student Placement Procedures

Faculty and staff are encouraged to mentor students through the IAC process to ensure proper placement with external organizations, SJSU auxiliaries, or SJSU departments/organizations. See below for information regarding unpaid and paid academic internship procedures.

Unpaid Academic Internship Procedures

Before registering for an internship course, students with unpaid internships must complete the steps below to ensure that a fully executed UOA is secured and the site is active in SJS4. 

Paid Academic Internships

Students with paid internships are not required to have a completed UOA, unless the internship is paid via a stipend/grant. Students must still complete the Learning Plan and Participation Guidelines and obtain approval from their instructor prior to enrolling in an academic internship course. Students may also be required to provide employment verification if requested by an instructor or internship program director.


New Partner Organization Placements

New placement sites are secured through a two-step process. First, the organization must complete the New Partner Proposal Form and University Organization Agreement (UOA) in SJS4. Second, the SJS4 team reviews the form and UOA. If the organization is approved, it will then be posted to SJS4. View the Partner Organization page for more information. 


Modifying an University Organization Agreement (UOA)

Organizations requiring modifications to the UOA must submit a request in writing (email acceptable) to the S4 Support Team or relevant instructor or SJSU department administrator. An one-dollar requisition must be initiated to generate a Purchase Order that will allow the UOA to be modified. 


Controlling Enrollment in IAC Courses

To help ensure that students are enrolled in IAC courses only after the completion all proper paperwork, it is advised that internship courses require a permission number (add code). Students can only enroll with the permission of the instructor once all proper paperwork has been submitted and is approved. 


Linking to SJS4 from Canvas

Faculty can create a link to SJS4 from a course Canvas shell. For complete instructions on how to do this, view a tutorial on Adding the Redirect Tool for SJS4.


Cal State S4 Faculty User Guide

For detailed information on managing courses and student placements on SJS4, please read the Cal State S4 Faculty Guide


For additional information visit the Frequently Asked Questions page or email your question(s) to s4support@sjsu.edu.