Welcome About the MPA Program Admissions Program of Study Course Listings Degree Completion Requirements Internships Graduate Assistantship Financial Aid ASU Library Resources Public Administration Research Sources Professional Organizations in Public Administration Careers in Public Administration

  The MPA internship is designed for students with little no experience working in a public or nonprofit agency.   It is not appropriate for students with such experience to request an internship.   The internship may not be scheduled until the student has completed at least three core courses in the program.

The MPA Director identifies students in need of an internship as they are admitted to the MPA program.   The Director works with the Internship Director and the Community Advisory Board to identify appropriate internship opportunities and match students to them based on student interests and abilities.

All internships last for a full semester.   Student interns are expected to work at least 20 hours per week for the semester.   Interns may be compensated for their work by the agency, if the agency has funding available.  

MPA interns are expected to be doing work that is appropriate and supportive of the students' educational goals.   Thus, students should be in an applied learning experience to gain management and analytical skills.   Appropriate work includes:

• Conducting researc
• Developing or revising regulations, policies, or plans
• Evaluating the effectiveness of programs, policies or regulations
• Facilitating meetings or group discussions
• Writing technical or nontechnical documents
• Training others in specific skills
• Setting up information systems
• Developing standards and measures for agency performance
• Drafting agency budgets, preparing grant applications, or assisting in other fund raising initiatives

All interns are supervised by the site supervisor and the Internship Director.   The Internship Director will visit each worksite at least twice during the semester to assess the student's performance and progress.   The site supervisor will evaluate the intern at least twice during the semester—once at mid-term and again at the end of the semester.   These reports will be used as part of the grading process for the internship.   The site supervisor is required to share the contents of the mid-term assessment with the intern, as part of the process of helping the intern improve his or her performance.   In addition to work performance, the Internship Director will require the intern to write a major paper on some aspect of the internship experience.   The precise topic will be determined by the Internship Director and the intern.  

I