Students can enroll in DCDA 40273 (DCDA Internship) for three hours of academic elective credit toward the DCDA major or minor at TCU.
Interns work on digitally-intensive tasks (research, data analytics, audio or video production, web authoring, social media, etc.) for a minimum of 8 hours each week and no more than 20 hours in a single week for a total of 120-160 hours during the semester.
A Supervising Agency provides appropriate direction and oversight to enable the student to perform the duties assigned. A Supervisor, acting on behalf of the Agency, will provide a written evaluation of the student’s work at the end of the semester. The Internship Coordinator, representing the DCDA program, will provide additional supervision as needed, guide students through a semester-long curriculum component, and submit the student’s final course grade to the registrar.
For assistance in finding a suitable internship, please contact the Coordinator AND schedule a meeting with Dr. Emmanuel Garcia at the Center for Career & Professional Development. If you have not already done so, be sure to create a profile on LinkedIn and access FrogJobs powered by Handshake.
Note: If you plan to secure an unpaid internship, you can apply for Career Readiness Funding through TCU’s Internship Scholarship Program.
Approving a DCDA Internship Site
Before accepting an internship for credit, students must get a Supervising Agency approved by the DCDA Internship Coordinator. To get approval, you must provide the Coordinator with a list of original digitally intensive projects you will work on during the semester. These projects may include research, data analytics, graphic design, web, video, audio, or social media composing but not office work (filing, answering phones, handling mail, etc.). The bulk of your work should not be confidential or otherwise restricted because producing a professional portfolio for the DCDA community is the major course project.
In addition, the Supervising Agency must be a credible operating entity and not family-owned or directed. The internship must be well supervised by someone (non-family) with enough relevant expertise to ensure the internship will be an educational experience. The Supervisor must be willing to write an end-of-term evaluation of your work and professionalism. The Agency must provide sufficient digitally intensive tasks for you to work at least 8 hours per week and complete your 120-160 hours.
Students will be issued a permit number to enroll in DCDA 40273 only after they have [1] identified an internship site, [2] provided the Coordinator with a list of projects, and [3] completed the following forms with contact information and signatures:
Spotlight: Supervising Agencies
The following internship opportunities may be available to you from our continuing partners:
DCDA 40273: The Course
This course is designed to serve central functions: documentation of your internship experience, articulation of connections between your DCDA course work and internship work, and vicarious learning through the experience of your classmates. The course operates under the assumption that full learning happens when students can confirm connections between their classroom discussion and skill building with real-world experience and interaction.
Internship Coordinator:
Dr. Brad Lucas
Email:
Center for Career & Professional Development
TCU’s Policy on Internships
TCU offers hundreds of internships in any given semester and does not support political or personal statements associated with any of them. We evaluate each opportunity to ensure academic value as it relates to a course of study. Beyond that, we encourage you to seek the opportunities that best match your interests and to choose how to best fulfill your internship requirements.
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