Students in Ball State University's landscape architecture degree programs gain valuable education and firsthand experience outside the classroom by completing a required internship with a professional firm or public agency involved in landscape architecture work.  Learn more about professional careers in this field.

Objectives

• To give the student an opportunity to see how classroom concepts and skills are professionally practiced.  To expose students to aspects of landscape architecture, planning, and design that are best experienced in practice.
• Intended primarily to give students office experience, the program is flexible enough to allow a balance of both in the field, and in the office situations, if appropriate.  In the cases of internship with Botanical Gardens and Arboreta, field internships in landscape management under the direct supervision and training of a horticulturalist are valuable, and acceptable internship opportunities.  Positions involving only site construction or maintenance, while valuable in their own right, are not permitted for internship credit.

Requirements
For the bachelor of landscape architecture (B.L.A.) degree, a 10-week internship is required for all students during the fourth year of the program. The curriculum is flexible enough to allow for extended internships if the student desires.

For students in the first-professional master of landscape architecture (M.L.A.) degree programs, the internship is at least 10 weeks of full-time employment, usually completed during the summer between the second and third years.

Students arrange their own internships with assistance and approval from the department.

Student interns submit bi-weekly reports to the department's internship coordinator.  They will enroll in an internship course the spring or summer of their internship (LA 369 or 669, 0 Credit) AND during the fall semester following the internship (LA 369, 1 Credit).  A summary paper is required, as well as a display of internship experiences and accomplishments.  Each student intern will receive academic credit for the experience.  The Internship is a required component of both the undergraduate and graduate programs in Landscape Architecture at Ball State.

Internship Format
The structure of the internship experience varies from place to place.  The department has no formal requirements for internship activities, other than those limitations stated previously.  Intern employers are encouraged, however, to structure the experience in such a way that both benefits the employer and provides as wide a range of professional experiences for the intern as possible.  It is the department's experience that the most valuable internships are those that provide a planned variety of practice opportunities, and ones that include the student intern as not only a active participant, but also as a passive observer of the office or agency at work.  Many employers have arranged for special reviews, field trips, or other supplementary educational experiences for the intern.

Employer Information
Student qualifications for internship experience include completing the third year of study (of five) for undergraduate students, and the 2nd year (of three) for graduate students.  All student interns have successfully completed courses in basic design and design communications; site design; park, housing, and planting design.  All have had a plant identification course, and courses in grading and surveying, site materials and construction documents.  All students have had a course in computer applications in landscape architecture.

The department follows up each internship with an employer survey, and welcomes comments from employers regarding both the general qualifications of Ball State student interns and specific aspects of individual intern performance.  The internship is an important component of the Ball State Architecture Degree Programs.

For More Information
Joe Blalock
(765) 285-4258
jblalock@bsu.edu