“It gives you an opportunity to use the skills you have learned and apply them to real-world experiences.”
Alison Good, Business Administration
| Internships at CSC | General Requirement & Guidelines | Support from Harrington | Faculty Sponsor Guide |
| Student Intern Guide | Internship Forms | Guide to Site Development |
Internships provide an opportunity for all students to enhance their academic programs with field experience, related to their career interest, in a variety of settings. The value of work-related experience has been demonstrated many times over by the successful placement of our graduates in the world of work and in graduate or professional schools.
Colby-Sawyer College encourages every student to successfully complete at least one internship and for each discipline to provide an internship offering.
Rationale for
Internships
Internships support the mission of the College to "combine the values of
liberal studies in the traditional arts and sciences with those of professional
preparation." Internships are a key component of how Colby-Sawyer's programs
"provide opportunities to acquire the necessary theoretical and applied
knowledge which permits students to function effectively in the field. Internships
and encounters with practicing professionals provide opportunities to integrate
theory with practical learning. In each instance, students confront the challenges
and issues which they will eventually encounter in their lives and careers."
Internships will:
*provide an opportunity and atmosphere in which students may test theory learned
in the classroom in an actual working situation and discover the value of work
and the rewards of accomplishment;
*enhance educational aspects of the career development process;
*provide a system of accountability and encourage professionalism;
*provide an opportunity for students to develop positive work habits;
*provide an opportunity to test aptitude for or interest in a selected field;
*insure a natural transition to the highest level of professional preparation
as a complement to the liberal education
goals of the College.
General Internship Requirements and Guidelines
Eligibility Requirements
Any matriculating student is eligible for an internship provided that the student:
· has earned
enough credits for sophomore status;
· has submitted a resume and Internship Request form to the Harrington
Center;
· has satisfactorily completed a pre-internship seminar;
· meets the criteria established by the College and by each discipline
for participation and has academic department approval;
· has a different experience for each subsequent internship;
· has a College approved on-site supervisor (i.e. no family members, no former supervisors, meet academic qualifications if necessary, etc.).
Guidelines
Each department may have established prerequisites for students wishing to undertake internships. However, the following general guidelines are:
· that internships
may or may not carry credit;
· that 40 site-directed hours equals one credit (APC approved exceptions
for Psychology and Child Development);
· that for non-credit internships 40 site directed hours is the equivalent
of one credit for the purpose of determining faculty load;
· that internships are either 285 (exploratory) or 485 (advanced);
· that a required seminar for pre-internship training be offered throughout
the semester and instructed by the Director of Career Development and Internships;
· that internship credit be limited to a maximum of 15 credits towards
graduation;
· that in a given semester, a student may take only one internship;
· that the internship will be a different experience each time for each
student;
· that an interdisciplinary internship (INT 285) be available;
· that the administration of the resources guidelines, application, and
evaluation criteria be centralized in the Harrington Center.
Internship Support From Harrington
As the central administration site for the internship program, the Harrington Center will:
Before the Internship
· maintain updated internship site resources on the Harrington website,
in a database and in hard copy formats. Any department wanting copies of internship
databases may contact the Harrington Center for databases of internship sites
students have participated in or may go to the Harrington Center website for
internship opportunities links;
· meet with local, regional, and national employers for internship development;
· schedule and instruct pre-internship seminars;
· verify all Internship Learning Contracts for accuracy and completeness;
· seek to identify current and measurable methods to evaluate interns
and the internship program through work with experiential education professional
associations and faculty and student feedback.
During the Internship
· communicate status of all interns to faculty sponsors throughout each
semester;
· help faculty sponsors with problem interns or internships upon request.
After the Internship
· maintain records on all current and former interns and internship placements
by major and semester.
The Harrington Center appreciates the time and energy faculty commit to the supervision of interns. To help you in this area, we have put together an outline of responsibilities for faculty sponsors as approved by APC. The following criteria specifically address the role of faculty sponsors in the internship program:
Before the Internship
· faculty sponsors will communicate with site supervisors about learning
goals and objectives prior to the beginning of internships;
· faculty sponsors will determine if the level of supervision and the
qualifications of the supervisor is consistent with the department's internship
objectives;
· faculty sponsors will meet with students to establish measurable internship
outcomes, learning goals, and objectives;
· faculty sponsors will facilitate completion of Harrington Center Internship
Learning Contract with students and site supervisors.
During the Internship
· faculty sponsors will maintain regular contact with site supervisors
of student interns and meet or talk with interns a minimum of once a week;
· faculty sponsors will visit sites when deemed appropriate and maintain
open lines of communication throughout the internships with the site supervisors;
· faculty sponsors will evaluate all internship experiences in consultation
with site supervisors;
· faculty sponsors should provide interns with specific final report
criteria and due dates;
· faculty sponsors will develop a weekly reporting mechanism to track
hours worked and to ensure students are meeting their learning goals and objectives.
All other evaluations will be provided to the student interns by the Harrington
Center.
After the Internship
· faculty sponsors will schedule a minimum of one required group meeting
with all interns following each internship;
· faculty sponsors will make sure all required paperwork is submitted
by the interns and will determine whether an intern has passed or failed the
internship.
The internship is designed to provide students with a guided introduction to the professional working world. As a part of this training, students must meet the following requirements to successfully participate in an internship experience:
Before the Internship
· students must confer with their faculty advisers to plan the timing
of their internship(s) and to make sure all departmental requirements are met;
· students must contact the Harrington Center for Career Development
to register for and successfully complete a pre-internship seminar;
· students must submit an Internship Request and resume to the Harrington
Center for Career Development by October 5 for a spring internship and by March
5 for a summer or fall internship;
· students will receive an Internship Learning Contract upon submission
of the request form;
· students must register for the internship during the appropriate pre-registration
period.
· students must return completed Internship Learning Contract to the
Harrington Center at least two weeks prior to the last day of classes.
During the Internship
· students must complete any written reflections or other requirements
as designated by the faculty sponsor on the Internship Learning Contract;
· students must provide their internship site supervisors with the appropriate
evaluations at least one week prior to mid-semester and finals to avoid incomplete
grades for their internships. These should be returned directly to The Harrington
Center;
· students must complete a site evaluation and return it to The Harrington
Center at least one week prior to finals.
After the Internship
· Students will submit and/or present their final reports as designated
by their faculty sponsors;
· Students will send their internship site supervisor a thank you letter
and provide a copy of the letter to the Harrington Center.
The following is a compilation of internship forms used to initiate, set-up, and evaluate students' internship experiences. Some departments such as Athletic Training have specific evaluation tools to assess competencies and are not included in this handbook.
The forms included
are the:
· Internship
Checklist
· Internship
Application Form
· Internship
Learning Contract
· Supervisor's
Mid-term Evaluation
· Supervisor's
Final Evaluation
· Student
Evaluation of Internship
Throughout the semester, faculty sponsors can track the progress of their interns through the Blackboard (Bb)course sites set up for each department's internships. Faculty can have these course sites set up to receive weekly progress/reflection reports as well as seeing overall assessment values for evaluations received for each intern. For assistance in designing assignments so weekly progress/reflection reports upload directly to the Bb grade book, contact Kathy Taylor.
Guide to Internship Site Development
Internships are field experiences designed to provide a student learning opportunity under collaborative supervision between Colby-Sawyer College faculty, staff, and work-site professionals. Internships offer the opportunity for students to enhance their academic programs with work experience related to career interests in a variety of settings. It is illegal for an intern to work in a position that would normally be staffed by a full or part-time employee. Therefore it is important to carefully evaluate potential internship sites to ensure that the opportunities offered are consistent with the expectations and learning outcomes of the College.
Site development happens in a number of ways.
1) The Harrington Center conducts internship development activities throughout the year and offers numerous opportunities to students.
2) Companies and organizations will contact The Harrington Center or academic departments regarding internships they are looking to fill.
3) Faculty members develop contacts or identify potential internships sites.
Contact information regarding these experiences is shared between The Harrington Center and the appropriate academic departments or individual faculty members. Faculty sponsors and ultimately academic department chairs approve students' internship experiences.
The following guidelines have been established to ensure that internship site development is done in a consistent manner in accordance to the expectations of Colby-Sawyer College's internship program and learning outcomes.
Site Development Guidelines
1. Employers/organizations should provide meaningful work experiences.
a) Are companies willing to immerse students in actual company projects, such writing articles, managing franchises, creating computer programs, and more?
b) Are site supervisors willing to teach students the nuts and bolts of the organization, its values, and provide an orientation to interns?
c) Do students should go through similar training as full-time employees?
d) Are interns considered gofers in the organization?
e) Are students oriented to the culture and how they fit in?
f) Is the site supervisor qualified to provide appropriate supervision to the intern?
2. Site supervisors should guide students' development through mentoring.
a) Do managers identify specific things students' would like to be exposed to at the company?
b) Do students get "personal opportunities," such as one-on-one discussions with executives, a chance to job shadow, or professional development and training such as conferences, workshops, etc.?
c) Do supervisors emphasize both personal and professional growth of students?
3. Offer compensation and/or benefits.
a) Most small and non-profit organizations do not pay interns, however, are there other incentives offered such as subsidized lunches or a housing allotment, a company sweatshirt, a chance to go to meetings and professional development workshops?
b) The average hourly rate for interns is $12.26 to $14.43 if a company or organization should ask.
c) It is illegal for an organization or company to guarantee a student a job after graduation. If this is an incentive they want to offer, they must say that a job opportunity may exist after successful completion of the internship.
4. Site supervisors should be willing to communicate regularly with faculty sponsors.
a) Are site supervisors willing to discuss interns' learning goals and objectives with faculty sponsors?
b) Will site supervisors be available to meet with interns on a regular basis for feedback and support?
c) Are site supervisors willing to contact an intern's faculty sponsor if problems occur?
Colby-Sawyer College
541 Main Street
New London, NH 03257
(603) 526-3000
