Public relations internship system evaluation: criteria and a preliminary instrument

Few aspects of contemporary public relations education are as important as internships. Unfortunately, American public relations internship systems are characterized by diversity, perhaps more so than would be desirable.This article presents an instrument for measuring, comparing, and evaluating public relations internship programs. The crux of this instrument is a series of ten value judgments as to what is optimal in public relations internships.The PRISE instrument embodies these ten criteria; (1) student autonomy, (2) public relations broadly defined, (3) student responsibility, (4) flexibility is a virtue, (5) limited faculty involvement, (6) appropriate credit, (7) internship contracts, *8) appropriate assessment, (9) allow prestige firms, and (10) voluntary, not mandatory.