FAQ for Students

Students who are accepted for an EcoStudio internship/independent research or students who find their own internship can earn academic credit through internship courses (393, 493) in their majors, through research courses (395, 396) in their major, or honors thesis research (692H, 693H) in their majors. Per UNC's credit hour definition, students are expected to devote at least three hours of independent work per week for each unit of credit (e.g., nine hours per week for three credit hours of internship). Over the course of a typical semester (about 15 weeks), that's 45 hours of work on your internship or independent research project per academic credit. Note that since internships are Pass/Fail, they typically will not count towards your major concentration.

Yes! You can: (1) Get the credit in the summer, but you have to pay summer tuition for it. Tuition is about $900 for 3 credit hours. Note that since summer sessions are shorter than the fall and spring semesters, you will need to spend more time at your internship to earn the equivalent academic credits. (2) Get the credit in the following fall semester. You would conduct the on-site internship portion in the summer, and complete the deliverables to the mentor/client and the faculty advisor (final report writing, reflection on the experience) during the fall semester. Fall registration makes you eligible to use financial aid for the academic credit. Students who conduct internships during the summer months will be required to keep a daily journal of their internships activities. For Option #2, we require that you complete your Independent Study Learning Contract (summer version) and submit into the Online Learning Contract Manager before the start of your internship.

1. Fill out an Independent Study Learning Contract (MS Word). You will need to meet with your mentor/client to flush out how often you will meet, how you will be evaluated, what your deliverable(s) will be, etc. Your contract should be as explicit as possible, and you should make sure to explicitly state on your contract every hour you will work on the project.
2. Send your form to EcoStudio at ecostudio@unc.edu for review. We'll let you know if any tweaks need to be made.
3. Find a faculty advisor. If you have one in mind, you can ask them if they are willing to take on that role. If you don't have a faculty advisor in mind, no problem! You will meet weekly in the EcoStudio with EcoStudio staff to discuss your project, ask questions, get help, and interact with your peers.
4. Visit the Online Learning Contract Manager. You will enter in the course information, select your advisor, and upload the completed Independent Study Learning Contract (MS Word). The online system will then seek approval from your advisor and the department's internship coordinator.
5. After approval, you will then be manually registered by your department for ENEC 393 or ENEC 493 in a special section taught by your faculty advisor.

Note: Typically, you cannot get academic credit retroactively, i.e. you can't fill out an independent study learning contract for an internship that has already passed. So, please plan ahead and follow the steps above before you start your internship

While the academic credits that students earn through ENEC 393/493 are secondary to the internship experience, having a space on your schedule devoted to internships will help you budget your time more easily. At EcoStudio, all students are strongly encouraged to participate in weekly EcoStudio meetings where you will have a faculty advisor to help you with your project, advise you professionally, and advocate on your behalf should complications arise. If you choose to intern through EcoStudio, weekly EcoStudio meetings are designed to help you develop your professional skills to better prepare you for the work force after you graduate. Plus, EcoStudio weekly meetings offer you the opportunity to meet with other peers with internships. That said, we understand that if you are not enrolled in ENEC 393/493, you don't have a course on your Connect Carolina schedule, and it may be difficult to find the time to meet weekly. Finally, there are some internships where the sponsoring organization requires the student to be enrolled in an internship class.

Yes, you can! Students can choose to do their EcoStudio internship without seeking academic credit, and all EcoStudio students are strongly encouraged to participate in the weekly EcoStudio meetings - whether or not they are enrolled in ENEC 393/493. Students that cannot participate in weekly meetings due to other obligations will be required to submit a weekly journal entry summarizing their week's work at the internship or on the independent study. Students will also need to complete the Not-for-credit internship contract.

Yes, you can! You are welcome to apply for internships any semester, and we've had many students complete more than one internship over their undergraduate careers. We plan to offer a separate EcoStudio section to students who have already done EcoStudio with a focus on additional professional development in the near future!

ENEC 393 and ENEC 493 are graded as Pass/Fail, so they do not count as a 400-level course towards your major. However, they can count as an elective for the sustainability minor. For more information about this, please see UNC's General Education Curriculum and Degree Requirements page. Note that you may encounter some resistance to using ENEC 493 to fulfill a slot if you received less than 3 credits for it!

Yes! For more information about this, please see UNC's General Education Curriculum and Degree Requirements page.

Students who don't already have a faculty advisor in mind will meet weekly with EcoStudio staff to discuss their projects, ask questions, get help, and interact with peers. You can also contact a favorite professor directly and ask them to serve in this capacity. Typically, faculty can only serve as advisors for up to two students per semester. Since EcoStudio runs more like a typical course with consistent in-person time, we are able to serve as faculty advisors for more than two students.

You cannot get academic credit retroactively, i.e. you can't fill out an independent study learning contract for an internship that has already passed. So, please plan ahead and follow the steps above before you start your internship.

Internships offer students an opportunity to gain experience working with a mentor in an organization. Internships typically require a student to spend 10 hours per week (or up to 20 hours per week during the summer) on the project. Sometimes, an organization has a project that is smaller in scope or does not have enough time to commit to an internship. In these cases, projects may be offered as independent research opportunities. In an independent research project, the student will meet periodically with the client, but will spend the bulk of their time working on the project outside of the organization. Most organizations offer flexibility in terms of the amount of time students need to spend at the organization's location.

In the context of the EcoStudio, a mentor refers to the person at your internship that you interact with most frequently. You can think of them as your employer, and, ideally, they will help you develop professionally over the course of your internship. We use the term client for independent research projects. The client is the person who has requested student assistance with a given project. You will meet with your client from time to time to ensure that you are on track to deliver what was asked of you for your project. A faculty advisor is the person who is ultimately responsible for the academic component of your experience. In an internship, your advisor is there to ensure that things are going smoothly and to assist when needed. In an independent research project, your faculty advisor will be available to help answer technical questions, provide feedback on your deliverables, and assign you a grade in ConnectCarolina. Note that for your EcoStudio application, you will need to list a faculty reference. This just needs to be a faculty person that knows you well enough to vouch for you.

Internships are ENEC 393 and ENEC 493. Research credits are ENEC 395 (lab-based) and ENEC 396 (readings based). Honors research is through ENEC 693H (research) and ENEC 694H (thesis writing). If your project is going to be independent research or if you are working less than 9 hours per week, you should select ENEC 493. You'll need to consult with your mentor and faculty advisor to determine the appropriate number of academic credits for your project, but you must work at least 3 hours per week per academic credit. Note that students do not register themselves for ENEC 393 or 493. You will be registered automatically after all of your paperwork has been submitted.

YES! We welcome students from all majors and from any background, because diversity breeds innovation. Check with your department to see if they have a course listing for internships that you may be able to use or if they will allow you to use ENEC 393/493 if you wish to also get academic credit for your internship. Apply today.

Venable Hall is part of the Science Complex and is located next to Dey, Gardner, and Carroll Halls. Enter through Murray Hall and go to the 3rd floor where E3P/ENEC and Marine Sciences are located. We are typically located in Venable, often in room 3302. Campus Map.

We typically have two different meeting days/times, typically on Wednesdays surrounding a noon lunch time. You pick the session that works best for you, and if you need to switch sessions in a given week, no problem! For more information on EcoStudio meetings, check out our Meetings page.

You will set up your schedule with your mentor. This allows for flexibility, and you can work with your mentor to make up time when something comes up and you miss your normally-scheduled time. Internships that occur during the semester typically begin the first week of classes and end before exams. Summer internships vary with start and end dates but typically end before the next fall semester.

Yes! There is a common misconception that it has to be one or the other. In fact, you can get paid and receive academic credit for the same internship.

While internships provide amazing work experience, they are often unfunded and can force students to choose between a paid part-time position or a career-building internship. EcoStudio, from time to time, may be able to offer need-based funding thanks to the generous support of IE, and here are some resources that may help you find some funding from alternate sources:

• How To Find Funding For Unpaid Internships
• Book: Foundation Grants To Individuals

Potential UNC Funding (depending on your internship)

• UNC Funding Information Portal
• Carolina Center for Public Service
• UNC Global Funding Opportunities

Potential outside funding:

• NOAA undergraduate scholarships
• Raftelis Leadership Scholarship - for promising students who have an interest in becoming problem solvers for local governments and municipal water utilities and have an interest in a consulting career.
• Women in GIS Awards and Scholarships

CPT (Curricular Practical Training)
- Only available while you are enrolled in your academic program (i.e., you cannot do CPT after graduation).
- Requires registration for an internship-related course. EcoStudio offers two options that fulfill this requirement: ENEC 493 (1 credit hour) and ENEC 393 (3 credit hours). Detailed registration steps and requirements are listed in the academic credit section of the EcoStudio FAQ.
- Must be directly related to your major.
- There is no limit to the number of CPTs you can do throughout your college career. However, if you want to do two internships in one semester, you must register for two different internship courses.

OPT (Optional Practical Training)
- Can be used before graduation (pre-completion OPT) or after graduation (post-completion OPT).
- Does not require course registration. You do not need to contact EcoStudio for advising or course enrollment. Instead, contact your academic department to determine who should be listed as your advisor.
- Must be directly related to your major.
- Has a maximum limit of 12 months (or an additional 24 months for STEM majors). If you use pre-completion OPT during a summer, your available OPT time after graduation will be reduced.

- CPT: You would first register for the internship course in OCLM, then apply for CPT via the ISSS portal (https://isssportal.unc.edu/istart/controllers/start/StartEngine.cfm). CPT will be approved after your enrollment in this class is reflected in ConnectCarolina. Processing time for ISSS can take up to 3-5 weeks but is usually faster. You will have a newly issued I-20 by ISSS after the completion of the CPT process.
- OPT: You would first apply for OPT via the ISSS portal, then apply work authorization with the USCIS. OPT request will take 3-5 weeks for ISSS to process and can take up to 3-5 months for USCIS approval, so it’s highly recommended that you start as early as possible. The premium processing could shorten the time to 30 days but would have additional cost. You will receive an EAD card after the completion of the OPT process.

- CPT: No additional fees if the course is registered during the semester, but you must pay for the required course credits for summer internships. You must register for at least one credit hour in one of the summer sessions to work in the summer, which will generate a fee of $1,716.78 in your student account at UNC (as of summer 2025).
- OPT: Requires a USCIS filing fee of $470 for regular online processing and $1,685 for premium processing.

You can choose either CPT or pre-completion OPT for the summer. CPT is a better option if: 1) You need work authorization quickly. For example, if you accept an offer later in the spring semester but need to start working in the summer. 2) You want to save OPT time for post-graduation, especially if you don’t have the 24-month STEM extension. 3) You need the internship to fulfill major requirements or earn credits. Most departments require you to take a 3-credit-hour internship course to meet these requirements. OPT has lower fees if you apply early. If you don’t plan to work in the U.S. after graduation, using OPT in the summer may be the better choice.

No, CPT requires enrollment in an internship-related course. No, even unpaid internships typically require CPT or OPT authorization.

For official guidelines, you can 1) visit UNC ISSS website: CPT: https://isss.unc.edu/student-employment/cpt/; OPT: https://isss.unc.edu/student-employment/opt/; 2) contact your International Student Advisor: either Iryn McIntyre (last name A-L) or Kristen Cruz (last name M-Z) contact info are here: https://isss.unc.edu/current-students/contact/; or 3) go to visa ISSS student advising drop-in: https://isss.unc.edu/current-students/contact/.