Internships

1. Your internship must be CSE-related. The Internship Coordinator will determine relevancy when you complete the paperwork to register for internship academic credit.
2. Internship academic credits must be earned in the term/semester in which you worked at the company.  In particular:
   • You cannot receive internship academic credit for internships you have already completed.
   • When you complete an internship during any academic term, you must register for internship academic credit(s) during that term.
   • Note that the internship academic credits will be billed as part of the course registration fee.
3. Each credit of academic work requires a minimum of 3 hours of internship work per week for 14 weeks.

    Example:

    3.0 academic credits
    x 3 hours of work per week = 9.0 hours of work per week
    x 14 weeks per semester = 126 hours of work per semester

1. Good Standing.  You must be an approved CSE graduate student in good standing to register for internship academic credit.
2. Credit(s) Toward Degree:
   • PhD students.  PhD students may count a maximum of one internship credit toward their PhD degrees.
   • Masters students.  Course-track MS students (starting in Fall '23 and later) may count a maximum of three internship academic credits toward their MS degrees; otherwise, MS students may only count a maximum of one internship academic credit toward their MS degrees.

1. You must be an approved CS or CEN major in good standing to register for internship academic credit.
2. You may use a maximum of 3 internship academic credits toward required 400-level CSE course credits.  However, you may earn these 3 internship academic credits at separate internship experiences.  For example, you may earn 1 internship academic credit in one term and 2 internship academic credits in another term.
3. Internship academic credits in excess of the 3 credits may be used as 'free electives' as permitted by the degree program.
4. To register for internship academic credit, you must have previously completed CSE 250: Data Structures or receive special permission from the Undergraduate Staff Academic Coordinator.

You are responsible for locating and applying for your own internship opportunity. This means that you will need to contact potential internship locations; submit your resume, cover letter and any other documentation that is required; arrange the interviews; etc.

These recommended resources can help you find internship opportunities:

• UB Career Design Center—Jobs & Internships
• UB Career Design Center—Events: UB hosts job fairs and events multiple times per year.
• Companies and other students

Please pay close attention to the instructions below. Forms and information not conforming to the required information will cause significant delays (including rejection) for the Internship Application approval process.

Download and complete the CSE Internship/Co-Op Application Form.

Complete the CPT request e-form on UB Global, answering all questions in detail.

Use the guidance below to complete the form.

• Answer all questions in detail
  • List or describe the skills/concepts from your degree program that will be used during CPT.
    
    • Should not be general skills like "team work" or "interpersonal skills".
      
• Missing details or mistakes will require you to complete this entire form again, and will significantly delay processing time.  
  
  • Carefully write the advisor/department email address in Step 2 of the e-form: 
    • For Grads: cse-grad-internships@buffalo.edu
    • For Undergrads: mneumaie@buffalo.edu 
      
• Request the full length of your CPT semester
  • We often see students with job offers that end prior to the semester end date, which then later gets extended. We recommend that you request the full semester length to avoid additional work.
• Upload your employment letter on company letterhead, with your name, date, job title and description
• READ EACH CONFIRMATION OF UNDERSTANDING! 
  • ISS takes these confirmations very seriously. We will uphold these statements. If you have questions, ask before submitting!

1. Complete the CSE Academic Advisors Reccomendation Form, answering all questions using the third-person tense.  For example, refer to yourself as "the student", "the intern", "he", "she", "they", etc. Do not use the first-person perspective, such as "I", "me", etc.
   
2. Get the official offer letter on a company letterhead and make sure the official offer letter includes at least the following information: (1) job duty, (2) starting and ending dates, (3) the time commitment, and (4) to whom you will be working with and reporting.
3. In your own words, please write a paragraph (P1) to state your agreement with the following information from your offer letter by repeating them explicitly, especially when some of those information are missing in your offer letter: (1) job duty, (2) starting and ending dates, (3) the time commitment, and (4) to who you will be working with and reporting.
4. In your own words, a paragraph (P2) of your understanding (~300 words maximum) of the tasks you will be doing, and what computer science & engineering related skills and education experience you will bring for the internship.
5. In your own words, a paragraph (P3) of your justification (~200 words maximum) of your requested number of internship credits for the internship (see above for the requirements) versus your internship time commitment.

Do NOT email the offer letter and your paragraphs above to the Internship Coordinator, who will approve your request through the force registration system.

After you've prepared all the needed documentation and information from above:

1. Upload the application file and your internship offer letter from your sponsoring company as PDF files to the SEAS Force Registration Request Form with your CSE 496 (UG Domestic students) or CSE 598 (Graduate Domestic Students) force registration request.  Your offer letter must include start and end dates, salary, tasks, and work location/company address.  Do NOT email the form to the Internship Coordinator (who will approve your request through the force registration system).
2. Open and fill in SEAS Force Registration Portal: https://academics.eng.buffalo.edu/force-registration/request
3. Log in (if prompted).
4. Make sure your name, person number, and email are correct.
5. Enter the semester for which you are submitting the request (i.e., Summer 2022).
6. Course subject: CSE
7. Course number: CSE 496 for undergraduate students, and CSE 598TUT or CSE 700 Independent Study for graduate students. For those who choose CSE 598 TUT, please choose the first instance of “CSE 598: Internship".
   
8. Reason for request: Course is closed
   
9. Justification: Please copy-and-paste the three paragraphs (P1, P2, and P3) that you have prepared from above to this place as your justification.
10. Credit Amount: [variable]
11. Document upload:
    
    • CPT Academic Advisor Recommendation Form (if you are an international student)
    • Offer letter from company
12. Submit
    • After submission, the Staff Academic Coordinator will inform you if there is an error in any of your materials.  Once approved, the Staff Academic Coordinator will force-register you.  Domestic students may proceed with their internships after the force registration is complete. International students need to wait for their CPT approvals from ISS before starting their internships.
      

1. Download the Internship Evaluation Form.
2. Fill it in, completing all the fields.
3. Give the form to your Internship Supervisor on or before the first day of your internship so that he/she understands your internship evaluation criteria.

The Internship Coordinator will send the signed form to the Staff Academic Coordinator so that he or she can force-register you into the appropriate course.

Both courses require force registration to ensure that all the necessary forms are filled out and to assist in tracking internship progress.

1. Verify that your Internship Supervisor has completed your Internship Evaluation Form as completely as possible, and signed and dated it.
   
2. Submit your CSE internship evaluation form to CSE on the last day of classes of the semester when you are doing your internship. If you fail to submit this form, you will get a grade of "I" (Incomplete) for the internship.  Choose one of these two submission methods:
   • If your Internship Supervisor wants to submit your completed CSE internship evaluation form directly to the Internship Coordinator, he/she may email it to cse-internships@buffalo.edu.
     
   • Otherwise, if your Internship Supervisor wants you to submit your completed CSE internship evaluation form, upload it via this external link or the file upload widget, below.