FINA 4800: Finance Internship

Interested students should download the appropriate internship and agreement form below:

FINA 4800 internship and agreement form (PDF | 270 KB)
FINA 5990 internship and agreement form (PDF | 290 KB)

General Information

An internship is employment, compensated or not, that gives you practical experience in the field of finance. An internship is the equivalent of a 3-credit hour upper level finance course, so the work responsibilities must provide an experience that contributes meaningfully to the student’s understanding of the finance discipline. So, internships that have a finance component will be granted credit, while those that are outside the finance area will not. (camp counselor, sales, etc.) Further, a student may not receive credit for continuing in a job held previously. School policy is for the student to enroll for credit while participating in the internship. Certainly, work experience of any kind is valuable and is not discouraged. However, an internship is the equivalent of enrolling in a 3-credit hour upper level finance course, and as such, should provide a “new” learning experience.

Internship Requirements

You must meet the following requirements in order to receive academic credit for your internships. There are no exceptions to these rules.

1. Be a Finance major (not an intended major) in the Terry College of Business.
2. Have successfully completed FINA 3000.
3. Have an internship where you work at least 200 total hours. This can be broken up into 13–15 hours for 15 weeks, 20 hours a week for 10 weeks or 25 hours a week for 8 weeks.
4. You must register for FINA 4800 in the academic semester you are actually doing the internship. University regulations do not permit juggling the semester in which you register to avoid tuition costs, etc.
5. Your internship must include substantial responsibilities/assignments related to finance activities.

Your Course Grade

Students enrolled in FINA 4800 will receive a Pass/Fail grade. The hours may be used as Major Related Credit only. Your course grade will be largely based on your research paper, but we will also ask your employer to evaluate your efforts over the internship period. You will also be expected to show progress on your paper throughout the following semester. These deadlines are firm, with no exceptions. Your grade will be lowered whenever deadlines are missed for any reason.

Company Evaluation Form (PDF | 49 KB)

The paper will require a significant amount of outside research (books, journal articles, news magazine analyses, Wall Street Journal articles, etc.) in addition to data from the internship sponsor. The paper needs to be on a financial aspect of the firm. This is a finance class.

Topic ideas may include but are not limited to one of the following: an analysis of the firm’s capital structure, a financial ratio analysis of the firm, an analysis of the firm’s dividend policy, an analysis of certain regulatory and or economic factors affecting the firm and the firm’s strategy, or various topics in working capital management.

Your paper will be graded on the thoroughness of your analysis and research. Footnotes or endnotes must be used. The paper must be 10 pages long, not including tables, graphs, table of contents, and abstract. This is an analytical research paper, not a “what I did in my summer job” paper.

Determining Your Grade

The course requirements for FINA 4800 this summer will be a 10 page (double-spaced) paper. The format of the paper should take the following form:

1. Discussion of your company. This should include what it does, it competitors, and the market it competes in. If allowed, you can discuss company financial performance and future outlook. This should be an analysis of the industry or space that the company operates. This should take 3–5 pages.
2. Select a key issue facing your company and discuss its impact or relevance to your firm. Examples might be debt restructuring, a merger, TARP impact, new product release, change in accounting systems, impact of government policy, or many other possibilities. Feel free to email me if you want to get an opinion on an idea.

Your grade will be based on two factors:

Grading Factor	Possible Points
Final Document	80 points
Employer Evaluation	20 points

Your final paper is due the Friday before Thanksgiving break by 11 am. You must submit a printed copy of the paper. You can leave it in a box that I will place outside my door. Papers must include a bibliography of any resources that you used to construct the paper.

Below is a rubric on how your final paper will be graded:

Final Paper Grading Rubric

Quality of Work	Points
Paper has excellent analysis of company performance and position. Paper has excellent analysis of critical issue facing the company. Paper is well-written with few grammatical errors. Paper is well-sourced in bibliography.	80
Paper has good analysis of company performance and position. Paper has good analysis of critical issue facing the company. Paper is well-written with few grammatical errors. Paper is well-sourced in bibliography.	72
Paper has good analysis of company performance and position. Paper has fair analysis of critical issue facing the company. Paper is well-written with few grammatical errors. Paper is well sourced in bibliography.	67
Paper has fair analysis of company performance and position. Paper has fair analysis of critical issue facing the company. Paper is okay with several grammatical errors. Paper is well sourced in bibliography.	60
Paper is poorly written with multiple grammatical errors.	50

Students can receive feedback prior to the final paper deadline by submitting a rough draft to me prior to fall break. I will get comments back to you within two weeks of receiving your rough copy. Please submit rough draft in printed form to receive comments.

Important: The research paper is individual work and governed by the University Honor Code. The work you turn in should be your own. If you do not think you want to write a 10 page paper, do not enroll in the course. All assignments (outline, rough draft, final draft) must be turned in as hard copies to Brooks 437. No exceptions.

Deadlines

Fall 2012 FINA 4800: (all due by 1 pm)
Final Paper due: March 8, 2013
Employee Evaluation due: March 8, 2013

Spring 2013 FINA 4800: (all due by 1 pm)
Final Paper due: July 2, 2013
Employee Evaluation due: July 2, 2013

Summer 2013 FINA 4800: (all due by 1 pm)
Final Paper due: November 22, 2013
Employee Evaluation due: November 22, 2013

Class ELC Page

Once enrolled, you will have access to the class ELC page. This page will track your progress in the course and also notify you when assignments may be picked up for your review.

FINA 5990: Credit: 1 Hour

Students can earn 1 hour credit completing an internship with a firm or government agency and preparing a two-page summary of their work experience. This counts towards your free elective hours and can be used one time only. The paper should describe the activities of the firm and how the internship impacts the student’s career plans. The internship can be paid or non-paid, working at least 30 hours/week for two months.

To register for this course you must:

1. Have an internship for the semester that you plan to enroll in the course. (Credit will not be considered for past jobs or internships.)
2. A letter to Chris Pope from your internship employer that
   1. indicates the length of your internship, and
   2. the duties you will be asked to perform
3. Once Chris Pope has your employer letter, he will add you to the access list for 5990. You must register within one week of receiving access. This is a high demand course and seats are limited. The letter may be mailed or faxed (706-542-9434) to Chris Pope.

Your Course Grade

Students enrolled in FINA 5990 will receive a letter grade. The course grade will be based on your two-page paper and the employer evaluation (PDF | 49 KB).

Employer Information

Please contact Jill Walton, Director of Undergraduate Student Services and Corporate Relations, or visit Hire Terry to learn how you can recruit Terry students for internships and full-time jobs.