Internship Programs

Internships are work experience/educational programs intended to better prepare students for their career after graduation and to make students more competitive in the job market. Students in Public Horticulture are required to complete an internship; students in other horticulture curricula are not required to complete an internship, but they are strongly encouraged to do so. Students participating in the internship program (minimum 10 weeks of supervised work experience) will register for HORT 390. After successful completion, the School of Agriculture upon graduation will award students an appropriate certificate. Academic credit is not granted.

Public Horticulture Internship

This is a required six-month (minimum) internship for Public Horticulture students. The field of public horticulture is a smaller job market than commercial horticulture, and fairly competitive, with many professionals entering through the internship route. At Purdue, we try to shorten that process by encouraging students to complete internships during the undergraduate program, but terminal internships are also fairly common.

On the other side of the coin, Purdue is recognized in the public horticulture field as the only university with an established program (since 1970) that prepares students for positions in public horticulture. Well over 100 PLANTPRO alumni are working in this field in the U.S., frequently supervising internship programs at their institutions.

Graduates of this program have found that their internship experiences have been at least as important as academic work when it comes to placement, although academic preparation is especially important in removing limits to advancement.

The American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta (AABGA), the primary association for public professionals, each year publishes a directory of internship opportunities at its member institutions. The 1998 Internship Directory lists more than 300 such opportunities at about 125 institutions.

In fact, the number of internships is so great that many of these institutions encourage applications from students in landscape architecture, commercial horticulture, and other fields where the internship experience seems relevant, as well as public horticulture.

Dr. Matthew Jenks coordinates the Public Horticulture option, and assists students in internship and job placement, and in career planning.

Commercial Horticulture Internship

Dr. Michael Dana coordinates internships in Commercial/Science Horticulture. Typically, an internship involves student participation in the workplace for at least one semester and the adjoining summer, for a minimum of approximately 6-7 months.

Commercial horticulture businesses typically do not have a structured internship program in place, as do many public gardens. The internship coordinator's role is to locate and negotiate with an appropriate business to place a student in an internship in that firm.

To do an internship, the student must take the initiative. The process begins with the student contacting the internship coordinator to indicate his/her interest in an internship. This is best done about a year in advance of the planned semester of internship, but can be done during the semester immediately prior to the internship period. Following discussions concerning areas of career interest, geographic and time constraints, etc. the coordinator will begin to locate potential internship host firms. Internships range coast to coast, with excellent opportunities right in Indiana or the Midwest.

Once a suitable host firm (or firms) is identified, various communications may occur including transmittal of the student's resume, telephone or in-person interview (depending on accessibility of firm from West Lafayette), etc. This leads to the concluding of an employment/internship agreement between the company, student, and Purdue formalizing the arrangement.

The student intern is responsible for making his/her own logistical arrangements for living during the internship. Most companies are very helpful in this regard, and a few offer housing as part of the internship remuneration package. In some cases, a trip to the internship site prior to commencement of the internship is made to finalize arrangements.

Required reporting is minimal during an internship, but regular communication between coordinator and intern can be beneficial. In some cases, interns are asked to volunteer to make presentations about their internship upon their return. In every case, internships turn out to be rewarding, and often maturing, experiences.