1. Facilitating Internships at a Distance
Criminal Justice Association of Georgia (CJAG) Annual Conference
Morrow, GA
Facilitating Internships at a Distance
Michael Eskey, Ph.D.
Park University
I’m Doctor Mike Eskey, professor of criminal justice administration and the program coordinator of the criminal justice administration at Park University.
The idea for the current paper came simply from a personal curiosity about the internship program / course at Park University. We have actually THREE capstone courses – yes --- three. The Internship in criminal justice is one of the three capstone courses. This is coordinated from Parkville, MO (home campus) and is required for all CJ seniors …. A graduation requirement.
There are exceptions. We have a number of active-duty military students, many of whom do not have the same opportunities to work in a criminal justice related agency. Also, we have students that are already working in a criminal justice position.
With a waiver, these students are allowed to substitute a course, the senior writing project, for the internship, for the internship.
Copyright 2016: Eskey 1

2. Overview Background of Internship Program at Park University
Survey Results of Southeast Region Faculty Members
Comparison to Georgia Colleges
Survey Results of Criminal Justice Interns
Conclusions
I would like to follow and provide an outline of what I will cover:
Background of Internship Program at Park University
Survey Results of Southeast Region Faculty Members
Comparison to Georgia Colleges
Survey Results of Criminal Justice Interns (if time permits)
Conclusions
Copyright 2016: Eskey 2

3. Questions Concerning the Internship Program
Is what we have normal?
Does anyone else have these requirements?
What are the requirements that other institutions utilize?
What should the requirements be?
What are the requirements for the internship course?
So there were some questions to be answered:
Concerning the Internship Program:
Is what we have normal?
Does anyone else have these requirements?
What are the requirements that other institutions utilize?
What should the requirements be?
What are the requirements for the internship course?
The topic of internships courses last year sparked my interest after the presentation by Pete Fenton and Mike Shapiro. I began first with an assessment of the internship at my own university, followed by a survey and follow-up survey of Internship students.
The current study was driven both from the requirement to assess the current program for the upcoming Higher Learning Commission assessment. Further, it was the intent of the researcher to compare the requirements and findings with past research on internships and current criminal justice program internships.
I will discuss first the survey that I completed on criminal justice faculty members in the Southeast Region of the United States – mainly with some comparisons of Georgia colleges and universities to other states;
and …… then the results of a survey performed on students that had recently completed an Internship at Park University.
Copyright 2016: Eskey 3

4. Internship Requirements
Students must be 21 years of age and have a completed a minimum of 60 hours in the program, and maintained a 2.5 GPA in their major courses. The internship is coordinated in Parkville, MO at the main campus. For the most part, particularly outside of Parkville, MO, students must procure their own internship. Once obtained, the students have the requirement to complete 135 hours of work with the agency in the eight-week period. Additionally, there are other requirements
Students have weekly online discussions with classmates and instructor.
Students must submit a weekly journal entry - listing the date and hours worked and containing a brief description of the activities performed and a reflection on these activities
Students must complete the required number of hours in the internship successfully.
Students must submit a six page, computer-generated paper.
Supervisor will submit a confidential report to your instructor

5. Internships and Senior Writing Project Enrollments
Table 1
Enrollments in CJ440 and CJ441 by Academic Year
AY / Course
AY2012 –
2013
AY2013 –
2014
AY2014 –
2015
AY2015 –
2016
Total
CJ440
115
128
136
130
509
CJ441
107
114 90 84
395
222
242
226
214
904
Table 1 reveals the enrollments in the Park University Internship over the last four academic years. As noted, those with valid reasons for receiving a waiver are required to take the senior writing project in its place. The centralization of the coordination of the internship program beginning in AY2014 – 2015 has resulted in a slight increase in the internship enrollments (10%) and decrease (20%) in waivers for the senior writing project.
Copyright 2016: Eskey

6. Park University Capstone Questions?
Do we need an Internship course as a specific Capstone course?
Do we need a facilitator at our 18 locations that offer internships?
What should we be including in the internship course, for our student requirements?
What are ‘others’ doing?
How do our students assess the internship requirements?
The current study was driven both from the requirement to assess the current program for the upcoming Higher Learning Commission assessment. Further, it was the intent of the researcher to compare the requirements and findings with past research on internships and current criminal justice program internships.
So, in viewing the requirements – some questions arose:
--Was there a difference by the type of institution – college vs. university? Or private vs. public. We have an unusual university, in that we have a small main campus, 43 campus centers in 21 states (18 that offer criminal justice courses), and a large online program with students located in every state and a number of countries outside the United States.
After a review of background literature, to include regional and national studies devoted to capstone course requirements, as well as individual studies that focused on specific disciplines, what became very obvious was that there was very limited emphasis of recent research related specifically to criminal justice internship courses.
So … this was the beginning of my quest. Some research questions included:
Do we need an Internship course as a specific Capstone course?
Do we need a facilitator at our 18 locations that offer internships?
What should we be including in the internship course, for our student requirements?
What are ‘others’ doing?
How do our students assess the internship requirements?
A study design was developed, two survey were developed, and the applications were made to the IRB. After IRB approval was obtained, surveys were sent to criminal justice faculty members of the Southern Criminal Justice Association as well, as other private and public colleges and universities in the Southeast Region.
And ……. Surveys were sent to students that completed an internship.
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7. Internships Offered by Institutions
Table 2
Comparison of College Internships
Being Offered by Institution by Location of School
Yes No
GA Colleges & Universities
23 (69.7%)
10 (30.3%)
Other Colleges & Universities
55 (70.4%)
16 (29.6%)
First ….. some basic findings from the faculty members.
Overall, nearly 74 percent of responding institutions indicated that they offered capstone course. And, 18 percent reported that they included an internship as part of their capstone course.
The respondents were generally from more senior faculty members. 42 percent were full professors; 21 percent were associate professors percent of respondents held the rank of assistant professor, instructor, or lecturer.
Of those responding, 7 percent reported less than 1,000 students at their institution. 54 percent reported 1,000 to 9,999 students;
40 percent were teaching at institutions with 10,000 or more student enrollments.
Instructors
Sixty-five (65) percent of respondents reported that senior seminars and capstone courses are instructed by faculty members working alone. It should be noted that of the 101 institutions responding only 18 required an internship as a portion of the capstone course or as THE capstone course.
Of some interest, I did compare Georgia Colleges and Universities with the other responding colleges and universities in the Southeast Region.
As revealed in Table 2, Georgia colleges and universities were no more likely to offer credit-course internships for their criminal justice students attending institutions that in other Southeastern states. Seventy percent of all schools samples offered an internship course for credit.
ᵪ2 = 0.725, def. = 1, p-value = 0.395
Copyright 2016: Eskey

8. Internship Requirement by Institutions
Table 3
Requirement for Internship in Your Discipline as a Graduation Requirement by Location of School
Yes No
GA Colleges & Universities
18 (54.5%)
15 (45.5%)
Other Colleges & Universities
22 (31.0%)
49 (69.0%)
Georgia colleges and university criminal justice programs were much more inclined to require an internship as part of the graduation requirement. Over half (54.5%) reported a requirement for an internship in their criminal justice program. The compared to less than one-third of the remaining institutions from the Southeast region
ᵪ2 = 5.28, def. = 1, p-value = 0.02*
Copyright 2016: Eskey

9. Minimum Course Completion Requirements for Internships
Table 4
Requirement to Complete a Minimum of 60 Hours of Program by Location of School
Yes No
GA Colleges & Universities
26 (89.7%)
3 (10.3%)
Other Colleges & Universities
49 (90.7%)
5 (9.3%)
The information in Table 4, 5, and 6 reveals a consistency in academic achievement and completion prior to taking, or being eligible to take the internship course. Ninety percent of colleges and universities in Georgia and all southeastern states required that students complete a minimum of 60 hours of their degree program prior to taking an internship. This requirement is consistent across all institutions responding to the survey.
There was a difference in whether students are required to complete all program course requirements prior to taking an internship. Nearly sixty percent (58.6%) of Georgia Colleges and Universities have the requirement to complete all CJ course requirements prior to taking an Internship. Conversely, and statistically significant, less colleges and universities in the southeast region responding to the survey have this requirement. Less than one-third (30.4%) responded “Yes” to this. The results are shown in Table 4.
ᵪ2 = 0.026, def. = 1, p-value = 0.872
Copyright 2016: Eskey

10. Requirements for Completion of Course Requirements
Table 5
Have Completed All Requirements of Program by Location of School
Yes No
GA Colleges & Universities
17 (58.6%)
12 (41.4%)
Other Colleges & Universities
17 (30.4%)
39 (59.6%)
ᵪ2 = 6.359, def. = 1, p-value = 0.01**
Copyright 2016: Eskey

11. GPA Requirements for Internships
Table 5
Have a Minimum GPA by Location of School
Yes No
GA Colleges & Universities
25 (83.3%)
5 (16.7%)
Other Colleges & Universities
38 (69.0%)
17 (31.0%)
Finally, there was not a significant difference in all colleges and schools on a requirement for a minimum GPA to participate in an internship.
ᵪ2 = 2.053, def. = 1, p-value = 0.152**
Copyright 2016: Eskey

12. Internship Responses 266 Surveys …66 Respondent …25% response rate
70% perceived an increased knowledge of CJ system
30% received preparation or training before placement
83% reported receiving preparation or training during internship
5% were working in a ‘paid’ internship
25% were working in an internship in the type of field in which they currently worked
A Park Student Internship Survey was also administered
Overall, a total of 266 criminal justice students that had completed the internship program were sent surveys with responses from 66 students for a 24.8 percent response rate. Students were selected from s of those that had participated and completed the internship in AY and AY
Through descriptive statistics and analysis, the data supported the participation in the internship resulted in a perception by the majority of students (70%) that they had an increased knowledge about the criminal justice system.
This was unique from the knowledge attained strictly in the classroom.
Only 30 percent of respondent stated that they had received any preparation and/or training before your placement.
Conversely, 83 percent stated that they received preparation and training during their internship.
Of those responding, only five percent were working –in or completed a paid internship.
Only 25 percent of respondents reported that their internship placement was in the type of field in which they currently worked.
Copyright 2016: Eskey

13. Areas of Internship Comparisons
Personal (social) Impact
Inter-Personal (social) Impact
Learning and Academic Skills
Learning and Communication Skills
Technical and Vocational Skills
The survey utilized consisted of questions created and used at Brevard Community College (Baird, 1998) (and, will be continued with future interns). There were five distinct, component sections included that used to evaluate the experiences of students who completed an internship. The were Likert style statement provided for respondents to respond-to in the five categories of Impacts related to their internship
Personal
Interpersonal
Academic
Occupational and
civic characteristics
Copyright 2016: Eskey

14. Average Positive Ratings of Internship Components
Table 6
Ratings of “Impacts”
Internship Components
Rated “Quite a Bit’, or ‘Great Deal’
Mean Response
(%)
Personal Impact
87.6
4.41
Interpersonal Impact
84.2
4.43
Academy (Learning) Impact
77.3
4.14
Employment (job specific) Impact
74.8
4.03
Civic Impact
67.5
3.88
Positive Effects of Facilitation of Internship Online
71.6
3.93
The positive effects were varied and I will only briefly illustrate this. Each of the survey sections asked about a different, specific set of features related to the internship. There were six questions related to each “Impact’ on a five point scale. Table 6 reports on the percentage of students that responded with a 4 or 5. The mean percentage as reported are: personal impact (87.6%); Interpersonal Impact (84.2%), Academy (learning) Impact (77.3%), Employment Impact (74.7%), and Civic Impact, with about 2/3 ‘high favorability” at 67.5 %. About 7 in 10 (71.8%) gave a high favorability to the aspects of facilitation of the internship online.

15. Conclusions General Findings Needed Improvements
Future Concerns and Plans
The current study represents the first evaluation of the University Department of Criminal Justice Internship Program since its conversion to a centralized management format.
This study, based on data collected via self-administered surveys completed by Criminal Justice student interns, was designed to build on the existing body of literature on the benefits associated with Criminal Justice internships.
The first goal was to review key findings from previous studies related to the general experiences of student interns, particularly criminal justice internships.
It was assumed, and subsequently verified, that students in our sample, like those who have been surveyed and reported by other researchers, tend to have a favorable evaluation of their internship experiences.
Specifically, the research attempted to determine how students assessed the significance of an internship relative to the overall undergraduate education experience and the prioritization that students placed on specific aspects of their internships.
An objective was to assess the areas of internship impact as self-rated by interns.
Copyright 2016: Eskey

16. Questions?
Copyright 2016: Eskey