Internships & Experiential Learning

The Career Center can assist you with your internship recruiting needs. Whether you are looking to hire one or many interns for a fall, winter, or summer short-term experiential opportunity, we are pleased to offer many avenues through which employers may connect with talented undergraduate and graduate students seeking career related experience. For more information on any Career Center recruiting service or to discuss your specific intern hiring needs, please contact:

Geni Harclerode
Coordinator, Internship Services
The Career Center
3200 SAB
515 E. Jefferson
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1316
734-764-7460
734-763-9268 fax
gmichaud@umich.edu
careercenter@umich.edu

Hold Harmless Agreements
While the University may assist in providing resources for the students, we do not place students into internships and students who pursue internships do so individually. Therefore we do not have a legal relationship between the student and the internship employer. In the case of a Hold Harmless Agreement, the University of Michigan Legal Counsel has determined that the University can not legally enter into these agreements for this very reason.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has published documentation discussing the recent trend toward Hold Harmless Agreements from employers, and the following is an excerpt from their most recent publication:

There are a number of things to consider when signing—or asking another organization to sign—an agreement.

• The agreements are only as good as the organization that makes it. If the organization has the financial resources to pay, then the agreement can provide some protection. However, if the institution has few financial resources, then there is no protection. This is one reason students are rarely asked to sign hold harmless agreements: A student typically does not have the resources to indemnify another’s losses.
• The agreement should be executed by someone who has the authority to bind the employer or the college. Having the signature of a faculty member may not be enough to bind a school to the agreement. By the same token, an internship site supervisor may not have the authority to sign an agreement on behalf of an employer.
• An institution must have the legal authority to agree to pay for another institution’s losses. In certain states, the law may bar a public entity (e.g., a state university or a governmental employer) from entering into such an agreement. Thus, even if a high-level officer signed such an agreement, state law would nullify it.

Internship for Credit
The value of an internship is immense for both an organization and for the University of Michigan students who participate in these experiential education opportunities each year. The University of Michigan does not require internships for completion of a degree, and therefore does not offer University credit for internship experiences. Students are eligible to pursue independent study options for academic credit or, in some cases enroll in an internship related course through individual academic departments. For students who have not yet declared a major (particularly our first year students) or for those students who internship is not directly related to their academic coursework, securing credit can be difficult.

While The Career Center recognizes for legal purposes many employers require proof of academic credit from a student, we hope an understanding of the internship for credit process may be helpful to employers when considering working with Michigan students, and we encourage employers and students to find a mutually beneficial agreement for a productive working relationship. This may include revisiting existing procedures, negotiating the number of hours, duration, or compensation for the position, or offering more flexibility in where and how the student receives credit.

For questions regarding internships and credit at The University of Michigan, please contact Geni Harclerode, Coordinator, Internships and Experiential Learning, at 734-764-7460.