Host Organizations and Site Supervisors

Internship Description:

What is an internship?
An internship is a structured work experience that combines academic learning and career exploration in a professional work environment.  The heart of a successful internship experience is the relationship between the intern and the supervisor, who serves as a mentor and guide.  Internships can be done for credit or non-credit, paid or unpaid, part-time or full-time, during the summer or over a semester.

What is the purpose of an internship?
Interns seek workplace experiences to complement and build upon class instruction. Internships may be paid or unpaid, and students choose whether or not to earn credits.

In pursuit of their educational goals, students can bring enthusiasm, creativity and a fresh perspective to your organization. We ask that the organization provide a supportive yet challenging environment in which an intern can develop and learn.

An internship is a partnership. 

• In an internship for credit, the partnership is a three-way relationship between the faculty moderator, site supervisor and the student intern.  Credits are arranged by the student through an agreement with a faculty moderator and the Internship Coordinator. 
• In an internship for which no credit is being earned, the partnership exists between the site supervisor and the student intern.

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Internship Guidelines:

An internship for credit is a structured, supervised experience that combines academic learning and career development/exploration in a professional work environment. 

Students gain hands-on experience, learn new skills, explore a profession, apply and test theories and methods learned in the classroom, and develop a working knowledge of the organization's structure and operations. 

Students arrange for the credits to be earned through an agreement with the faculty moderator and the Internship Coordinator.

What are the college's internship eligibility requirements for the student?

Duration of Internships for Credit:
Academic Year:      16 weeks over one semester
Summer:               12 weeks over summer break

The minimum hours guideline for earning internship credits:
1 to 4 credits:   160 hours in one semester.
8 credits:          320 hours in one semester.
16 credits:        640 hours in one semester.

*Deviations from these guidelines require prior approval from the academic department and the Internship Coordinator

Zero-credit internships may be arranged at any point in the student’s academic career and are frequently planned for summer.

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Role of Host Organization and Site Supervisor:

What does the college ask of the organization?
Internships are an opportunity for a student to become part of an organization. The intern needs a workspace--a desk or table and access to a computer and a telephone.

Students need an on-site supervisor who serves as a mentor and guide. This student-mentor relationship is at the heart of a successful internship experience.

What is the role of the mentor/supervisor?
As the internship begins, the mentor provides the intern an introduction and orientation to the organization and its activities.

During the internship the mentor acts as a guide and work supervisor. This will involve regularly scheduled meeting times or being available for questions and informal conversations.

At the middle and the end of the internship we ask the host supervisor to sit down with the intern and evaluate the student's development. The final evaluation may include a letter of recommendation.

What is a site visit/conference call? 
For students earning credits, contact with your organization will usually include a conference call or site visit with the intern, the intern's site supervisor and faculty moderator, and the Internship Program Coordinator. We encourage you to contact the Internship Office at any time.

How is a student evaluated in order to earn credits for the internship?
Students are evaluated in a variety of ways.  The Internship Office will ask the student to turn in monthly reports.

The faculty moderator requires the student to do interpretive thinking and critical analysis in a number of ways. This may include regular journals, a portfolio, a final paper or several small papers. Faculty may provide a book list and require book reports or an annotated bibliography.

The site supervisor's mid-term and final evaluations of the intern are additional criteria used to determine the student's grade.

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Role of CSB/SJU Internship Office:

What is the role of the CSB/SJU internship staff?
The internship staff acts as a liaison between the student, college faculty and the organization providing the internship. This involves monitoring the intern's progress, providing information, and receiving feedback from the organizations where interns are placed.

What is the Registration for Internship-Learning Contract?
The Learning Contract (the registration form) is an outline of the student intern's goals and objectives for the internship. It functions as an agreement between the parties involved in the internship, is signed by the intern and requires an approval signature from the site supervisor, the faculty moderator, the department chairperson, and the Internship Program Coordinator. 

Before the internship begins the mentor or site supervisor discusses the student's goals in the context of potential projects and responsibilities and assists the student to develop a "learning contract" for the internship.

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Questions to consider when planning for an intern:

• What am I looking for in an intern? How can an intern contribute to my department/organization?
• What does my department/organization have to offer the intern--pay/stipend, reimbursement, flexible scheduling, training sessions, parking, discounts, letter of reference?
• How will I orient the intern and help him or her to fit into our department/organization?
• What are the intern's responsibilities? Are they written in the form of a job description?
• Do these responsibilities fit the intern's learning goals?
• How will I provide feedback to the intern? e.g. regular meeting time; mid-semester and final evaluations
• How can I serve as a mentor to the intern?

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