Internship: The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) defines internships as, "A form of experiential learning that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional workplace setting (across in-person, remote, or hybrid modalities). Internships provide students the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience, develop social capital, explore career fields, and make connections in professional fields." An internship may be paid or unpaid, full- or part-time, and, if approved and supervised by a CASNR faculty member or academic advisor, may be taken for academic credit. Some internships may be non-credit-bearing.
Co-operative education: UNL defines a co-op as a full-time work experience, which are always paid and must meet federal employment guidelines. A co-op experience must be relevant to the student’s degree program and designed to connect a student’s academic and professional work experience.
Co-op experiences typically occur away from campus for at least a full semester (fall and/or spring). Because they are a full-time experience away from campus during the regular academic year, students are encouraged to not enroll in any for-credit classes during the semester(s) in which they participate in a co-op.
For more information, please contact Julie Obermeyer.
Job Shadow: An unpaid experience that allows a student to explore a career by observing a professional to learn about their daily schedule, the work environment and what the career field entails. This is usually a one-time experience, but can be on-going.
Part-time job: A paid work experience that is long-term and less than 40 hours per week.
Volunteer: An unpaid experience that benefits a company, organization or the community. It can be long-term or short-term.