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Graduate Internship Guidelines

Internships are paid full-time, one-time, supervised work experiences. The student produces a work term report which is reviewed and graded by the faculty supervisor. Further information is available at: YU Experience Hub’s Experiential Education Toolbox

Internships are part of the academic requirements of a graduate degree and assist in achieving the learning outcomes of the program. They function not only to better enable future employability but also to contribute to students’ scholarly growth.

Graduate students embarking on an internship experience should review these guidelines in advance to help ensure a rewarding experiential education experience.

Guidelines for Graduate Students

Students are expected to remain in the registration status (full-time or part-time) to which they were admitted. For many students undertaking such opportunities, this would result in full-time registration.

Note: Part-time international students must obtain a co-op/internship-specific work permit for an internship experience. While full-time international students may not require a co-op/internship-specific work permit depending on their individual situation, it is strongly advised that they obtain a permit regardless.

York International assists International students seeking to obtain co-op/internship-specific work permits.

Only when a professional experience is not a program requirement but is of interest to the student for employability purposes and eligibility requirements do not require registration at the university should a Leave of Absence be considered.

Prior to embarking on a paid internship, funded graduate students* must submit an academic petition (using the ‘Other’ category) outlining 1) the term they will be taking the opportunity, 2) if it is an academic requirement of their degree, and 3) the total remuneration they will receive. This ensures that the continued funding level as per their offer of admission is maintained.

Internship earnings will become a replacement component of the funding package, on top of the fellowship. In all cases, the original funding package commitment will be met.

Internship earnings are generally treated the same as employment income (T4).

*Non-funded graduate students do not need to submit an academic petition outlining the term they will be taking the opportunity.

Impacts to Teaching Assistantships (TA)

The capacity to also hold a TA must be considered. If not, being available to TA in other terms will need to be known, dependent on the length of the internship.

Students are encouraged to speak with their graduate program on TA matters related to an upcoming internship.

Benefits

Full-time graduate students will continue to access benefits under the YUGSA Health and Dental plan.

Full-time graduate students who are members of CUPE 3903 will continue to access benefits under the CUPE 3903 Benefits Plan. Coverage continues for 5 months following the end date of the student’s last contract.

Funded Graduate Students Taking an Unpaid Internship

Internships are understood to be paid experiences as per York University definitions; however, unpaid internships can take place.

Students do not need to submit an academic petition outlining the term they will be taking an unpaid internship.

Employment conditions follow the Government of Canada’s Federal Labour Standards.

For paid internships, as they typically require an offer letter of some kind that outlines the organization’s coverage, the University deems these to be sufficient for the purposes of insurance and liability, and no further agreement is needed.

Experiential Education coordinators can assist with offer letter/agreement reviews before a student embarks on an internship.

For unpaid internships, a York University-derived agreement is required. The Province of Ontario covers insurance for students on unpaid work experiences, and universities are required to report on these semi-annually through the Office of Institutional Planning and Analysis.

Experiential Education coordinators can assist with offer letter/agreement reviews before a student embarks on an internship, and the appropriate coordinator should be informed by the Graduate Program of unpaid internships for reporting purposes.

Key Steps for Graduate Students

1.

Funded graduate students taking a paid internship must submit an academic petition (using the ‘Other’ category) outlining 1) the term they will be taking the opportunity, 2) if it is an academic requirement of their degree, and 3) the total remuneration they will receive, preferably 6 weeks prior to the start of the term when the internship will take place.

2.

Funded graduate students taking an unpaid internship, or non-funded graduate students taking either a paid or unpaid internship, do not need to submit an academic petition.

3.

If you are an international student, in all cases, contact York International for guidance on applying for a co-op/internship-specific work permit.

Guidelines for Graduate Programs

In addition to the Guidelines for Graduate Students, the following guidelines have been developed to assist graduate programs in administering internship opportunities and outlining administrative responsibilities.

Funded Graduate Students taking a Paid Opportunity

  • As funded graduate students are responsible for initiating a graduate petition when taking on a paid internship, nothing further is required by the graduate program.

Funded Graduate Students taking an Unpaid Opportunity

Non-funded Graduate Students taking a Paid or Unpaid Opportunity

  • Non-funded graduate students do not need to submit an academic petition outlining the term they will be taking an internship (paid or unpaid), nothing further is required by the graduate program.

Overall, continued oversight in this area helps inform work-focused experiential education promotion and reporting.

While outlined in the Guidelines for Graduate Students, this information is repeated here with additional contact information.

Employment conditions follow the Government of Canada’s Federal Labour Standards.

For paid internships, as they typically require an offer letter of some kind that outlines the organization’s coverage, the University deems these to be sufficient for the purposes of insurance and liability, and no further agreement is needed.

Experiential Education coordinators can assist with offer letter/agreement reviews before a student embarks on an internship.

For unpaid internships, a York University-derived agreement is required. The Province of Ontario covers insurance for students on unpaid work experiences, and universities are required to report on these semi-annually through the Office of Institutional Planning and Analysis.

Experiential Education coordinators can assist with offer letter/agreement reviews before a student embarks on an internship, and the appropriate coordinator should be informed by the Graduate Program of unpaid internships for reporting purposes.

Contact Information on Templates, Insurance and Liability Matters

For further information in this area, please reach out to:

Bob Eichvald
Director, YU Experience Hub
eichvald@yorku.ca

Lisa Domanski
Director, Risk Management Services
lisad9@yorku.ca

The capacity to hold a TA consecutively with an internship opportunity must be considered. With the likelihood of this not occurring due to internships generally being full-time, being available to TA in other terms will need to be known, dependent on the length of the internship.

High-level Scenario: A student will be registered active in the winter term but will not be available to TA. They held a 0.5 TA in the fall term. If they return in the summer term, the program should endeavour to find another 0.5 TA opportunity to fulfil the funding commitment.

Detailed Scenario – Full-time 1-term Internship

Fall term 1-term Internship – student held the last TAship in the previous winter term, contract end date April 30.

  • Benefit coverage will lapse effective September 30 in the current fall term, if a student receives another TAship in the winter term, they can hold onto their receipts for the fall term and claim when their CUPE 3903 benefit coverage is reinstated in the winter term. 

Winter term 1-term internship – student held the last TAship in the fall term of the current academic year, contract end date December 31.

  • Benefit coverage will continue until May 31 of the current academic year. If they receive a TAship in the summer term, CUPE 3903 benefit coverage will not be interrupted. 
  • Benefit coverage will continue until May 31 of the current academic year. If they do not receive a TAship in the summer term, they can hold onto healthcare receipts for the summer term and when they do receive a TAship in the fall of the next academic year they can submit those receipts.

Summer term 1-term internship – student held the last TAship in the winter term of the current academic year, contract end date May 31.

  • Benefit coverage will continue until September 30 in the current academic year. If they receive a TAship in the fall term, CUPE 3903 benefit coverage will not be interrupted.
  • Benefit coverage will continue until September 30 in the current academic year. If they do not receive a TAship in the fall term, they can hold onto healthcare receipts for the fall term and when they do receive a TAship in the winter term, they can submit those receipts.

Detailed Scenario – Part-time Internship

  • If a student holds a part-time internship and holds a partial TAship in the same term(s) – the minimum TAship guideline for the continuation of benefits coverage is 0.5 TA
  • No interruption to CUPE 3903 Benefit coverage

Internships Greater than One Term in Length (Consecutively)

For internships greater than one term in length (consecutively) that do not fall under the scenarios outlined, please contact an FGS Graduate Funding Advisor to discuss relevant implications.

Graduate programs typically make use of a course (mandatory or elective, depending on the program structure) to facilitate an internship. This ensures some form of assessment by the program (graded as pass/fail) while permitting the experience to appear on the student’s transcript.

In cases where a designated course is not available or appropriate for the opportunity, a notation can be added by the graduate program via the Graduate Events Module (GEM) selecting ‘Field research / Industry Internship 1’. A subsequent internship by the student can be displayed by selecting ‘Field research / Industry Internship 2’. The notation can be applied for both master’s and doctoral students.

Key Steps for Graduate Programs

1.

Review the Reporting Requirements for applicable requirements related to your program/students

2.

Review the Transcript Notations overview to ensure internships are reflected on the transcript appropriately

3.

Guide your graduate students undertaking an internship opportunity to these guidelines

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