Faculty/Staff Guide to Internships

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Overview of Program

WHAT IS AN INTERNSHIP?

·         A carefully monitored work or service experience in which an individual has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what she or he is learning throughout the experience.

·         Part of an educational program and carefully monitored and evaluated for academic credit, or part of a learning plan that the intern develops.

 

Internships vary in duration. They can be part-time or full-time, paid or unpaid. The important element that distinguishes an internship from a short-term job is the intentional “learning agenda” that the intern brings to the experience and the employer provides.

 

Internships help students:

·         Apply knowledge acquired in the classroom to real-world situations.

·         Develop analytical thinking skills and their discipline and its role in the modern world.

·         Clarify attitudes about careers in their field.

·         Improve time management, communication, and interpersonal skills.

 

Students who have completed internships are more likely to get a job at their internship site or with a competitor than students who have not completed an internship.

 

FACULTY INTERNSHIP COORDINATOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES

·         Determine the eligibility requirements for entry into an internship. Consider the following:

o        Whether undeclared students, students with a minor in your department or students from a different major can earn credit through your department

o        Whether students can intern early in their academic career or only in their junior/senior year

o        What specific courses should be completed prior to the internship

·         Determine the specific requirements for students to earn academic credit during their internship. Requirements may include a student journal, final paper, portfolio of materials, participation in a seminar, leading a presentation about the internship to a student club, an evaluation or memo from the intern’s supervisor noting successful completion of the internship and/or other requirements that you develop.

·         Determine the process that students should follow to secure an internship (completion of a preparatory course, application form, interview with internship coordinator, etc).

·         Ensure that each internship site has an affiliation agreement established with WSU.

·         Make sure that a Learning Agreement is completed prior to the start of an internship.

·         Consider whether students should be required to obtain liability insurance through the Office of Risk Management.

·         Conduct an on-site visit or conference call with each intern.

WSU INTERNSHIP LIST-SERV

The WSU Faculty/Staff Internship Coordinator list-serv provides a network to ask questions, share and receive information relating to internships. To join, send an email to internships@wsu.edu.

AFFILIATION AGREEMENTS

Each internship training site should execute an affiliation agreement with WSU. Affiliation agreements are used to establish a relationship of a continuing nature with an outside academic, clinical, or training site. Affiliations are not program specific and authorize the implementation of further specific programmatic relationships using a Program Agreement.

Two model affiliation agreements are available:

Model Non-Medical Affiliation Agreement

Model Medical Affiliation Agreement

These documents contain the primary terms and conditions to which the cooperating agency (affiliate) must agree. The language in these documents carries the approvals of the Attorney General's Office and Risk Management. Contact Danette Kriehn, Contracts Manager in the Office of Business Affairs, for drafting and approval of a model affiliation agreement specific to your department.  

Once the affiliation agreement has been negotiated and approved by the training site, the training site should sign and return two originals. The Dean of your college should then sign the “recommended by” block and forward the originals to the Office of Business Affairs (attention: Barbra Holder). Business Affairs will obtain the Provost's signature on the originals, and will then send you back one fully executed original to forward to the training site for their records, and one copy for your files. The second original is filed in the Controller's Office along with other contracts.

LIABILITY ISSUES

The Office of Risk Management and Insurance offers two insurance policies relating to internships and experiential learning: Student Experiential Liability Insurance and Student Professional Liability Insurance. Students need to pay for their own coverage (about $12/semester). See http://www.wsu.edu/riskmanagement/commInsPrograms.htm for detailed information about these offerings. This website also provides the list of courses which can be covered by each policy and students should ensure they are selecting the correct policy. Documents to pay for each policy are also available. Contact Risk Management at 509-335-6893 for further information.

 

Students are responsible for obtaining their own medical insurance for injuries to self. WSU's Office of Benefits and Payroll Services has student medical insurance available; the student may be able to be listed on their parents' insurance policy; or the student could obtain insurance through a local vendor. If a student is paid in an employment capacity, the student should be covered by the employer's workers' compensation policy. If a student is unpaid or receives a stipend, it is highly advisable (but not required) for an employer to obtain a rider to its existing workers' compensation policy to cover the intern.

 

CONDUCTING A SITE VISIT & MONITORING THE INTERNSHIP

Internship Coordinators should conduct an on-site visit to internship sites when possible, or conduct a conference call when a site visit is not possible. The Internship Coordinator should meet with the intern to view the work area, discuss working conditions and projects, review whether the learning objectives established in the Learning Agreement are being met, and discuss any problems. The Internship Coordinator should also meet with the intern’s supervisor and discuss the intern’s progress, take suggestions relating to the improvement of the WSU internship program, and discuss any concerns or problems.

 

Monitoring and supervision are formative processes; they are an essential part of the learning experience itself. Through the monitoring process, the faculty coordinator can help the intern and the employer redesign the remaining internship experience so that it can provide better learning opportunities. Many students will move through six predictable stages during their internship experience. See the article about the six stages of intern development and advising strategies for the faculty coordinator plus a listing of typical problems in internships. (From The Internship as Partnership: A Handbook for Campus-Based Coordinators and Advisors, edited and published by the National Society for Experiential Education, 1995)

RESOURCES

·         Internship Forms (learning agreement, student evaluation, employer evaluation)

·         WSU Internship Coordinators contact list

·         WSU Internship Course Enrollment Data (2003-2006)

·         A Faculty Guide to Ethical and Legal Standards in Student Hiring (pdf)

·         FAQ

 

ACADEMIC CREDIT POLICIES  

Are students required to enroll in academic credit while on internship?

Each department develops its own policy on awarding academic credit for internships. Sometimes the internship training site will require that students be enrolled in academic credit, especially if it is an unpaid internship. Career Services highly recommends that students enroll in academic credit when possible for the following reasons:

  • It ensures that the internship is tied to the student’s academic curriculum and learning. Faculty often find that students who are enrolled in internship credit make meaningful connections between their academic work and real-world situations and reflect on their learning.
  • A faculty member is assigned to the course so both students and internship site supervisors have a contact person for issues that arise.
  • Internship site supervisors can be surveyed to assess the academic program and curriculum to determine if employer’s needs are being met. The information can be used to improve your academic program and meet accreditation requirements.
  • The department has a record of the placement through the collection of a Learning Agreement prior to the start of the internship which could be helpful in future placements and in building relationships with organizations.
  • Students are eligible to purchase liability insurance through the university (see the liability information for more details).
  • Students have verification of the internship on their transcripts.
  • It allows the university to collect data on WSU students participating in internships.

How many hours are interns required to work per credit hour earned?

For the WSU semester system, a minimum of three hours of internship work per week is required for each credit hour earned. During a 15 week semester, this works out to be a total of 45 hours of internship work per credit hour earned. Some departments have more demanding requirements. (Academic Regulation #27, credit definition)

Can students enroll in internship credit prior to or following their internship?

Academic regulations require that students do an internship during the same period in which the student obtains credit for the experience. Credit is awarded in the term it was taken. “Banking credits” is not allowed.

 

Can students wait to enroll in an internship course until they know it will work out?

Students can enroll in an internship course after classes begin without paying late fees if their academic department approves. Requests for waiving late registration fees can be sent to the Registrar’s Office from the department.

 

WAGE ISSUES

We believe that it is desirable to compensate interns in some manner. The average debt for WSU graduating seniors in 2005 was $21,000. Students participating in paid internships could alleviate some of their student debt. Employers also benefit by attracting the best applicants and maintaining a stronger sense of accountability with the interns. Many companies pay interns at least minimum wage but non-profit organizations often do not offer wages.

 

However, under federal wage and labor laws, student interns can be unpaid if six factors are met under the Learner Trainee criteria:

  1. The training is similar to that which would be given in a vocational school.
  2. The training is for the benefit of the students.
  3. The students do not displace regular employees.
  4. The employer derives no immediate advantage from the activities of students.*
  5. The students are not entitled to a job at the end of the training period.
  6. The employer and the student understand that the student is not entitled to wages.

 

A stipend is typically a lump sum, is not related to work performed, and usually cover costs associated with the internship like lodging, clothing, transportation, child care, and tuition; whereas salary/wages are received regularly and are related to work performed. Wage and hour law does not use the term “stipend.” If a person is entitled to be paid, then the stipend must equate to at least minimum wage.

 

The federal and state work-study programs will support students who are doing internships at qualifying organizations. Students must also be eligible for work-study financial aid. For more information, contact Student Employment Center.

 

*Shelly Kaplan, general counsel for NACE, states, "Several court rulings, while not addressing the criteria head on, seem to suggest that as long as the internship is a prescribed part of the curriculum, is part of the school's educational process, and is predominately for the benefit of the student, the fact that the employer receives some benefit from the student's services does not make the student an employee for purposes of wage and hour law."

(Fall 2002 NACE Journal, p. 7)

 

EMPLOYER'S RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Offer a true career-related experience that enhances academic learning. Hiring a student to perform busywork (data entry, filing, answering phones, etc.) is appropriate for internship experiences only when balanced with meaningful professional responsibilities. The internship serves as a link between classroom learning and practical application so it should involve the student in making decisions and learning about a field through hands-on experience.
  • Provide a position description that will describe the internship. (See Resources section for form.) If students are enrolling in academic credit for the internship, they may be required to complete an Internship Learning Agreement from their academic department, which they are responsible for sharing with you. This is an opportunity for you and the student to clearly define the learning goals and job duties for the internship.
  • Appoint someone to act as a mentor/supervisor during the experience. Be sure that this person has the time to oversee the student's performance and offer constructive feedback. Provide an orientation for the student to the work site. Introduce the student to the organization, the employees, the physical layout, and the order of responsibility. Be sure the student intern knows the general philosophy and procedures of operation for the organization as a whole. Inform the intern of rules and expectations to be followed.
  • Provide the intern with ongoing feedback and conduct a performance evaluation. You can use your organization’s performance evaluation, the standard WSU evaluation form, or an evaluation that is indicated in the Learning Agreement. (See Resources section for form.)

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS RELATING TO INTERNSHIPS

The Cooperative Education and Internship Association: http://www.ceiainc.org

National Society for Experiential Education: http://www.nsee.org

 

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Visit the Student Guide to Internships and the Employer Guide to Internships or contact Career Services, 180 Lighty, 509-335-2546 or CareerServices@wsu.edu, campus zip 1061.