Welcome to your professional writing internship journey! This course combines practical work experience with guided professional development, helping you build both your skills and your portfolio.
Course Overview
Hands-on Experience
Gain real-world experience in professional writing environments, working on projects that directly apply your skills. This practical approach allows you to learn by doing and adapt to the demands of the professional world.
Regular Guidance
Receive consistent feedback from experienced mentors and your instructor, ensuring continuous improvement and targeted professional development. This support system helps you navigate challenges and refine your skills effectively.
Portfolio Development
Build a compelling portfolio showcasing your best work, demonstrating your capabilities to future employers. A strong portfolio is crucial for highlighting your achievements and securing future career opportunities.
Learning Outcomes
1
Professional Content Creation
Create professional content tailored to specific audiences and organizational needs, mastering the art of adapting your writing to various contexts.
2
Portfolio Building
Build a portfolio showcasing your best work, providing tangible evidence of your skills and accomplishments.
3
Networking Skills
Develop professional relationships and networking skills, essential for career advancement and industry connections.
4
Time and Project Management
Master time management and project planning, crucial for meeting deadlines and handling multiple responsibilities effectively.
Course Structure: Monthly Modules
1
Practical Work Experience
Approximately 8-10 hours per week dedicated to hands-on experience at your internship site, allowing you to apply your skills in a real-world setting.
2
Guidance Meetings
One monthly meeting with your instructor for personalized guidance and feedback, ensuring you stay on track with your goals.
3
Online Learning Modules
Online modules focused on professional development topics each month, providing structured learning to enhance your skills.
4
Portfolio Activities
Dedicated time for portfolio building activities, ensuring you have a robust and impressive collection of your best work.
Monthly Module Themes
Launch Your Professional Journey
Understand workplace expectations, set professional goals, and build your digital presence. Lay the foundation for a successful internship experience.
Master Workplace Fundamentals
Learn time management strategies, project planning techniques, and professional communication skills. Develop essential skills for workplace success.
Develop Professional Relationships
Explore networking strategies, workplace relationship building, and professional boundary setting. Enhance your interpersonal skills for a positive work environment.
Create your Professional Presence
Get ready for the job market, by enhancing your resume and Linkedin with your work, alongside a comprehensive digital portfolio of your best work.
Create Your Professional Portfolio
1
Collection
Begin by gathering your strongest work samples from your internship, selecting pieces that demonstrate your range and expertise.
2
Refinement
Refine each piece, ensuring they are polished and represent your best efforts. Pay attention to detail and clarity.
3
Showcase
Craft a compelling professional narrative to accompany your portfolio, highlighting your skills, experiences, and career goals.
Requirements for Success
Complete Internship Hours
Ensure you complete the required 126 internship hours to gain the necessary practical experience.
Attend Monthly Meetings
Regular attendance at all four monthly meetings with your instructor is crucial for guidance and feedback.
Submit Weekly Reflections
Submit weekly work samples and reflections to track your progress and receive ongoing feedback.
Grading Structure: Pass/Fail
This is a Pass/Fail class. Therefore, all items must be completed at an above satisfactory level to pass the course. Failure to complete one item will result in a failing grade. Failure to complete multiple items above satisfactory will result in a failing grade. During each meeting, we will assess your work together. If there are any unsatisfactory items, you will know in enough time to correct your course. Missing a monthly meeting will result in a failing grade.
Satisfactory Completion of Assignments
All assignments must be completed at a satisfactory level to demonstrate your understanding and application of course concepts.
Regular Attendance at Meetings
Regular attendance at monthly meetings is required to ensure you receive essential guidance and support throughout the course.
Professional Conduct
Maintaining professional conduct at your internship site is essential for a positive and successful internship experience.
Campus Respect Compact
In the pursuit of excellence, UNC Wilmington actively fosters, encourages, and promotes inclusiveness, mutual respect, acceptance, and open-mindedness among students, faculty, staff, and the broader community.
We affirm the dignity of all persons.
We promote the right of every person to participate in the free exchange of thoughts and opinions within a climate of civility and mutual respect.
We strive for openness and mutual understanding to learn from differences in people, ideas, and opinions.
We foster an environment of respect for each individual where differences are celebrated by the elimination of prejudice and discrimination through education and interaction with others.
Therefore, we expect members of the campus community to honor these principles as fundamental to our ongoing efforts to increase access to and inclusion in a community that nurtures learning and growth for all.
Plagarism
You must do your own original work in this class and identify that portion of your work that is collaborative with others, borrowed from others, or is your own work from previous contexts. Whenever you borrow, or use ideas from others, you are legally and ethically obliged to acknowledge that use and follow appropriate conventions for documenting your sources.
To borrow someone else's writing or other texts/graphics without acknowledging that use is an act of academic as well as professional dishonesty, whether you borrow an entire assignment or a single sentence. Additionally, submitting work for the course that you have submitted in another course will also be considered an act of academic dishonesty. Any plagiarized or academically dishonest work done for this class will receive a failing grade and may result in you receiving a failing grade for the course.
Please review UNCW's Honor Code. As per the guidelines from the Office of the Dean of Students, any instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty of which I become aware must and will be reported to the Dean of Students.
Disability Resources
Students with diagnosed disabilities should contact the Office of Disability Services (962-7555). Please give me a copy of the letter you receive from Office of Disability Services detailing class accommodations you may need. If you require accommodation for test-taking, please make sure I have the referral letter no less than three days before the test.