The Internships Study Group recommended the development of Level II courses that would explore careers in each of the Faculties, the establishment of credit-bearing “cohort-style” internships that would involve a seminar, a .25 credit option for summer internships that require college enrollment, the establishment of a summer Social Entrepreneurship program, and the expansion of offerings of courses with an applied or field experience such as those provided in practica, clinicals and student teaching, and in ACE courses. With the establishment of the Piper Center, we were able to focus on the kinds of internship and other applied experiences that are best supported in the academic setting and by faculty members, confident that the exploration of careers and the expansion of non-credit bearing internships were in good hands. (This also helps explain why the number of credit-bearing internships has fallen since the establishment of the Piper Center.)
In 2012/13, the Curriculum Committee recommended and the faculty approved the establishment of a .25 credit internship option. The quarter-credit internship option was adopted immediately for the summer 2013 sessions and has been attractive to students. In 2013/14, the faculty also approved Internship Reflection Seminars. Three Internship Reflection Seminars are being offered in 2014/15. Leadership for ACE transitioned from the Piper Center to the academic division, and Dan Hofrenning, Associate Dean of Social Sciences, is presently serving as its director and Tonya Kjerland has been appointed as ACE Coordinator.
Number of Credit-Bearing Internships 2010/11-2013/14
| Academic Year | Fall | Interim | Spring | Summer 1 & 2 | Total |
| 2010-11 | 13 | 63 | 25 | 72 | 173 |
| 2011-12 | 15 | 80 | 39 | 59 | 193 |
| 2012-13 | 17 | 64 | 18 | 55 | 154 |
| Int’l* | 10 | 11 | |||
| 2013-14 | 12 | 56 | 32 | 52 | 152 |
| Int’l* | 9 | 8 |
*We began recording which internships were international in 2012-13. These are a subset of the total above.