Internship (Master of Governance and Public Policy) (POLS7125)

Course overview

This is a restricted entry course and School consent must be obtained prior to enrolment. The Internship is based on a mutually agreed partnership between the student and an external organisation. The student agrees to carry out a research project on a topic/issue of direct interest to the external organisation. In return, the external organisation agrees to provide the support necessary for the project to be completed within a definite time frame. Secondary supervision is also provided by an academic staff member from the School. Established internship partners include: the Queensland Government, the federal and Queensland parliaments, and a number of other national, government and non-government agencies. The availability of internships is limited. Applicants will be awarded places on academic merit taking into consideration their GPA and previous study history. All additional costs incurred by students undertaking this course remain the responsibility of the student. Further information including how to apply is available on the POLSIS website Internships - School of Political Science & International Studies - University of Queensland

Students are required to complete a research project over one semester, which will be the basis for a written report of 6,000 words. The applied field experience must be negotiated in advance with the Course Coordinator. Costs incurred by students undertaking the course remain the responsibility of the student. Students undertake a minimum of 120 hours for the applied field experience, working with a host organisation identified and selected by the student and approved by the Course Coordinator. It is anticipated that of the 120 hours of the experience, 2/3 will be spent in direct contact with the host organisation and 1/3 will be spent researching and preparing and writing the research report.

Students interested in this course should contact the School by email at polsis@uq.edu.au.ﾠFurther information, including the application process is available atﾠhttps://polsis.uq.edu.au/internshipfield-work.

Please note that the Ethical Clearance Form (if required) must be completed before the Course Coordinator can approve an Internship (see below).

ETHICAL CLEARANCE

It is a University requirement that an Ethical Clearance is obtained for any fieldwork projectﾠinvolvingﾠhuman subjects . Working with their supervisor, students are expected to seek ethical approval for any interview, survey or other research involving people. If your fieldwork projectﾠdoes not involve people in this way, then you do not need ethical clearance.

Applications should be submitted by using the MyResearch linkﾠhttps://my-research.research.uq.edu.au/

Further information can be found hereﾠhttps://www.uq.edu.au/research/research-support/ethics-integrity-and-compliance/human-ethics/ethics-application

You must obtain Ethical Clearance before you leave for your Applied Fieldwork Experience.ﾠ

HEALTH AND SAFETY

You are required to comply with the University's Fieldwork Safety Guidelines:ﾠhttp://ppl.app.uq.edu.au/content/2.30.09-work-campus-safety

You are required to completeﾠthe HASS 5in5 that outlines safety steps before commencing an internship outside campus. Followﾠthis link, sign in to Blackboard.

Course requirements

Prerequisites

You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:

8 units of postgraduate POLS-coded courses with a GPA greater than 5.0

Course contact

Course staff

Timetable

Additional timetable information

There are no scheduled classes for this course.

Aims and outcomes

This course aims to allow students to develop their research, analytical and communication skills while they acquire practical and professional knowledge in a workplace setting.

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment details

Project Outline

Mode

Written

Category

Paper/ Report/ Annotation

Weight

Pass/Fail

Due date

21/03/2025 5:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L02

Task description

Submission guidelines

Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using Turnitin.

In uploading an assignment via Turnitin you are certifying that it is your original work, that it has not been copied in whole or part from another person or source except where this is properly acknowledged, and that it has not in whole or part been previously submitted for assessment in any other course at this or any other university.

When you successfully submit your assessment to Turnitin after previewing the uploaded document (to make sure that you have chosen the correct file), you should see the “Submission Complete!” message. After this, a downloadable Digital Receipt will display on your Assignment Dashboard. It is your responsibility to download the Digital Receipt as proof of submission. Turnitin will not send this receipt to you automatically.

If you don’t see the downloadable receipt on your assignment dashboard, you should regard your submission as unsuccessful.

If the submission was not successful:

1. Note the error message (preferably take a screenshot).
2. Go to your assignment page and see if it is possible to submit again.
3. If you cannot submit again, then email your course coordinator immediately.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Unless an extension is granted, penalties for late submission apply. Students are penalised 10% of the maximum possible mark allocated for the assessment item for every calendar day that an assessment item is late.

Marks will be deducted each day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point the submitted item will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each 24-hour block is triggered from the time the submission is due.

Research Report 6,000 words

Mode

Written

Category

Paper/ Report/ Annotation

Weight

Pass/Fail

Due date

30/05/2025 5:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03

Task description

Submission guidelines

Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using Turnitin.

In uploading an assignment via Turnitin you are certifying that it is your original work, that it has not been copied in whole or part from another person or source except where this is properly acknowledged, and that it has not in whole or part been previously submitted for assessment in any other course at this or any other university.

When you successfully submit your assessment to Turnitin after previewing the uploaded document (to make sure that you have chosen the correct file), you should see the “Submission Complete!” message. After this, a downloadable Digital Receipt will display on your Assignment Dashboard. It is your responsibility to download the Digital Receipt as proof of submission. Turnitin will not send this receipt to you automatically.

If you don’t see the downloadable receipt on your assignment dashboard, you should regard your submission as unsuccessful.

If the submission was not successful:

1. Note the error message (preferably take a screenshot).
2. Go to your assignment page and see if it is possible to submit again.
3. If you cannot submit again, then email your course coordinator immediately.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Unless an extension is granted, penalties for late submission apply. Students are penalised 10% of the maximum possible mark allocated for the assessment item for every calendar day that an assessment item is late.

Marks will be deducted each day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point the submitted item will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each 24-hour block is triggered from the time the submission is due.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Additional course grading information

Pass:

In order to pass the course a student must:

(1) Complete the project outline and

(2) Complete and submit to both the School and the hosting organization a research report.

Fail:

A student will fail the course if fail to complete any one of the tasks listed above.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is not available for this course.

Additional assessment information

Word Length Penalty

Unless otherwise indicated, in the case of written submissions with a specified word count, you are given a +10% leeway on the upper word limit. If your written submission is over this leeway limit, it will attract a 10 percentage point penalty. For example, if your essay is 1,500 words, you may write up to 1,650 before attracting a word count penalty. If your essay exceeds the upper word limit, it will attract a 10% word count penalty. Therefore, if your essay is worth 40 marks, you will lose 4 marks from your allotted grade. Unless specified, penalties only apply to exceeding the word length, not for failure to write a sufficient amount.

Students should note:

• The Author-date in-text referencing system will count toward the word length;

• References in the Footnote referencing system will not count toward the word length. If you are using footnotes, any content included in footnotes beyond the specific text reference will count towards the word length.

Supplementary Assessment

Supplementary Assessment is not available on the following assessment item because it is not possible to re-assess some of the minimum learning requirements for this item:

-Plan (Pass/Fail)

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Library resources are available on the UQ Library website.

Additional learning resources information

Essay Guide

The School of Political Science and International Studies Essay Guide can be downloaded from the School’s Student Support webpage.

The Guide sets out guidelines you should follow in preparing written assignments. 

Essay Writing Assistance

The School of Political Science and International Studies schedules regular “drop-in” sessions designed to provide one-on-one advice and assistance in essay planning and writing.

There is no need to make an appointment and you are encouraged to bring your essay with you.

The day and time of these sessions will be finalized at the beginning of each semester and published on the Student Support webpage.

Student Services

Student services offer a variety of short courses during the semester which will help you improve your study, research and writing skills and thus your academic performance in this course.

Library Resources

UQ Library offers training in software, assignment writing, research skills, and publishing and research management.

The University’s library holdings for Political Science and International Studies are primarily located in the Central Library.

There is a help desk in the Library. Students are also welcome to contact the BEL/HASS Librarians for assistance.

Email: librarians@library.uq.edu.au

Book a Librarian Appointment (BEL/HASS faculties)

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

• Student Code of Conduct Policy
• Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
• Assessment Procedure
• Examinations Procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.