Career Services

Health insurance is the responsibility of the student, and if not provided by the employing agency, should be purchased individually. In most instances, the group coverage for students available through CWU will provide adequate coverage; however, the student is advised to consider the level of coverage and the exclusions of the policy which may apply to unique co-op agencies, and to seek supplemental independent coverage, if necessary.

Yes, all students completing internships at CWU are required to purchase one of the two liability insurance options below. The type of liability insurance required depends on if the internship will be occurring in a medical setting or a non-medical setting. Students may use the links below to purchase the insurance that best fits their specific internship needs.

Medical Liability Insurance: For internships that take place in medical settings such as clinics, hospitals, medical labs, or similar roles/facilities.

Non-Medical Liability Insurance: This is for all other internships that are not taking place in a medical setting.

All internship applications will be completed via the online application found in the Wildcat Career Network. Login to your account (all current students should login via their MyCWU dashboard) then use the left tab to select the "Internship & Cooperative Education" tab. Once the tab has been selected, a page will appear listing your past, current, and draft internship applications. You can edit/review any existing application displayed or click the black "New" button to begin a new application.

Students are also encouraged to view the full step-by-step guide to this process for additional information.

Internship evaluations will be sent to both the student and the supervisor via a system email from "cwu-csm@symplicity.com". The student will get an evaluation near the end of their internship. The site supervisor will receive email evaluations around the middle and end of the internship.

If you or your supervisor have not received your internship evaluation emails, please email Career Services so that we may follow-up as needed.

Student can apply for an internship at any point in the term provided all of the following criteria can be met:

1. The student is able to complete the required academic activities and hours as needed for the requested credits within the time remaining in the quarter after their approval. Activities completed prior to or during the approval process would not be applicable.
2. The department approves of the internship plan and demonstrates this by providing a faculty advisor and signing the internship learning agreement when provided
3. The internship passes the standard application and approval process in time before the end of the quarter in which it is being requested.

Note that internship registrations occurring after that standard add/drop deadline for a quarter will be subject to the standard late registration fees and may not be applicable for financial aid. Students should speak with the CWU cashiers office or student financial aid offices for additional details on these topics.

In general, students can begin completing activities or accumulating hours towards a given term as soon as all required internship stakeholders have authorized the learning agreement. Students who start the internship before the term generally fall into one of the following three groups:

1. Students who have internships that start within 1-3 weeks prior the start of the term or during a break period before the start of the term. In these cases, the student could begin their cooperative learning internship efforts before the term starts as long as the learning agreement, hours, and activities are finalized and approved in advance. Credit for these activities could then be applied towards the term/quarter in which the majority or the internship activities were planned to be completed afterward.
2. Students who have internship activities that extend several weeks into a prior term. If a student plans to complete several weeks of internship activities across multiple quarters, the internship should be broken down into multiple internships and applications for each academic quarter it overlaps. For each quarter, the student should indicate the hours and activities that will be completed during that quarter's date range and the number of credits being requested for that period. Work activities that continue during break should be added to the term that follows.
3. Students seeking to start work before the start of the Cooperative Learning Internship course. Some students may begin their industry work/“Internship” prior to the start of their formal Cooperative Learning Internship course (490/590 course). In these cases, only the activities detailed in the approved internship learning agreement would be considered part of the university cooperative learning internship program or course. Any activities completed outside scope or timeline detailed in the pre-approved cooperative learning agreement would be considered direct arrangements between the employer and student and would not be subject to university oversight or eligible for credit allocation.

Important Note for International Students: International students working on f-1 visa cannot begin work until obtaining work authorization approval from the International Student Office. This approval is completed once the internship learning agreement is completed and fully authorized. International students should speak with the international student office for more information about plans or required timelines/authorizations.

CWU internships are a course like any other within CWU and generally need to fit within a standard quarter calendar. It is common however for industry “Internships” or positions to extend beyond these academic quarters. In such situations students have the following options:

Option A) Enroll for multiple quarters. Students can request a new internship course enrollment for each term they intend to continue the work experience. Each quarter they could clone their prior internship application and update it to reflect the new dates, hours, or goals they intend to complete during the coming term.

In this instance, for example, a 9-month work experience could be broken up into three quarters of “Cooperative Learning Internship” courses.

Option B) Only request credit for a portion of the experience. Industry work roles (sometimes called “Internships”) and CWU internship courses (“Cooperative Learning Internships”) rarely perfectly align. Students often begin work before or continue work after their formal internship course period. In these instances, any work activities that fall outside the scope of an approved learning agreement would not be subject to university oversight or applicable for course credits. A student working in a 9-month industry internship might, for example, only enroll in a cooperative learning/internship-for-credit course for just one quarter. In this instance, only the hours completed during that quarter and outlined in the learning agreement would be counted towards internship credits. Any other continued or prior activities, would be seen as arrangements between the employer and student outside the scope of university oversight or affiliation.

Important Note: Students planning to work using an international work visa may have additional restrictions in terms of their intended internship or start dates and should speak with the international student office for addition information.

Option C) InProgress (IP) Grade: Is some rare instances and with department approval, a student may be able to obtain an IP grade in order to allow additional time to complete activities after the standard quarter grading deadline has passed. In such instances, a student would be issued an IP grade by the department until the outstanding work was completed. Once it was completed, a finalized course grade would be in place of the IP. A student who has just a few needed hours remaining at the end of the quarter, for example, might make arrangements to take an IP grade for a week after the grading deadline while the last of the planned hours are completed. Once they completed the needed activities, their faculty advisor could then input their updated grade before the start of the next term.

Important Note: An unresolved IP grade can impact registration, graduation, and financial aid timelines if left unresolved by the start of the following term. Because of these risks, this approach is only advised in limited circumstances and primarily when the student only needs an additional 1-2 weeks to complete the required activities.

International students follow the same internship process as all students at CWU but may be subject to additional work authorization restrictions or requirements. Students should speak with the international student office about their internship plans or learn more about any relevant work restrictions. Students intending to complete internship activities using a CPT work authorization should note that they cannot begin work activities until the international student office has signed off on their work authorization. This sign-off process will occur at the end of the internship agreement authorization process and can take some time. Students should allow 2-3 weeks to complete the full internship authorization and review process when selecting their start dates or filling out internship application materials. Note that the international student office cannot sign any agreement with past dates so it is important to allow time for the internship learning agreement routing process and to follow up regularly as deadlines approach.

[Tab Sixteen] What is the process for doing an internship abroad?

If you are traveling abroad for your internship, whether you are a US citizen or an international student, you must work with the office of Study Abroad and Exchange Programs to complete the Education Abroad Application and other required documentation. Email EducationAbroad@cwu.edu to begin the process.

Central Washington University is committed to providing a learning, working, and living environment that promotes personal integrity, civility, and mutual respect in an environment free of sexual misconduct and discrimination. Sexual discrimination violates an individual’s fundamental rights and personal dignity. CWU considers sexual discrimination in all its forms to be a serious offense.

If you have any questions or concerns about sexual harassment, other forms of discrimination, or how to file a complaint, please visit the Behaviors of Concern webpage.

Central offers two sessions, a six-week and a 10-week session. Internships during Summer quarter are going to go through the same approvals and requirements as other courses would, so be sure and check with your department if wanting to do a summer internship. Summer aid is not included in your student’s normal academic year award and requires separate processing. The types and amounts of aid available can be limited. The costs of Summer is based on the session length. Summer tuition prices are higher than Fall-Spring tuition prices. Recent changes in the federal Pell grant program now allow qualified students to receive a summer Pell. Previously, Pell grant funding was limited to three quarters and that prevented many students from receiving financial aid for summer quarter. Talk to your financial aid advisor for more information about Summer Aid.

Students will be responsible to ensure tuition and charges are paid by the due date. Tuition for Summer Quarter is due on the second day of the quarter.