A professional internship is recommended strongly. The internship and independent study options are limited to journalism and media studies majors who have been accepted to SCILS and who have completed at least 75 overall credits, including five journalism and media studies courses, of which at least three must be skills-oriented courses (such as in reporting, editing, web page design, photojournalism). Students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 and a GPA of 2.75 in the major in order to enroll in the internship or independent study. For more information about these options, students are urged to contact the department. Students must check with their undergraduate college to determine how many independent study and/or internship credits their college will accept. Students also may do internships on a noncredit basis and are encouraged to work for campus media or off-campus media organizations and to participate in campus media activities, including the student chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ).