Internship positions are filled with students from our Construction Engineering Technology and Civil Engineering programs.  Some of the Civil Engineering students will have begun to focus upon a specialty area, such as water resources, structures, geotechnical engineering, transportation, or bio-resources engineering. 

The internship program is not a requirement for graduation.  Consequently, each student who seeks an internship is motivated by a desire to apply his or her academic knowledge to practical situations.  The most popular time for students to take an internship is during the summer between their junior or senior years.  A few students choose to take a break from classes and extend their intern assignments into the fall or spring semesters.

Students receive two professional elective credits for each internship experience.  Since credit is awarded, the intern must complete five reports and be evaluated by his or her immediate supervisor five times during the internship.  Standard topics are assigned for each report, which allows the student to explore the intricacy of his or her major with support from the company they are working for.  Reports are written on the intern’s own time and should not interfere with employment duties.

The program benefits employers as well as the interns. Past experience indicates that many employers view the internship period as a 12-week job interview.  Consequently, many of our graduates accept permanent positions with their internship employer upon graduation.

Although the main purpose of an internship is to provide a learning experience, the student’s salary should be enough to pay for living accommodations at their assigned location for their internship.  Furthermore, most students pay a significant part of their own education expenses and are often dependent on their internship income to get them through the next school year.  We prefer that the interns receive an hourly wage so that the students are compensated for the actual hours worked rather then salaried wages.

Details of the Department of Civil Engineering Internship Program for the coming year can be found in the Employer Information column of the table that contains all of the required forms. In order to initiate the process of hiring interns, please complete the Letter of Agreement and Position Announcement forms and send them to:

Penny Knoll, CPC
Assistant Professor and CE/CET Internship Coordinator
Department of Civil Engineering
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717
Phone: 406 994-6139 Fax: 406 994-6105 pennyk@ce.montana.edu

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