Sent via email to #Faculty_Announce on 03/15/23
Faculty,
As you begin working with students who have approached you about sponsoring their summer internships, I want to share the following regarding resources, best practices, and stipends – especially for our new faculty.
- Academic internships (395/495 courses) require a faculty sponsor from the department granting the credit (unless otherwise approved by the Department Chair).
- The role of the faculty sponsor is to oversee the academic direction and integrity of the learning experience.
- A secondary sponsor is not required, unless specified by a program or department.
- If a faculty sponsor is unable to fulfill their commitment for some unexpected reason, the faculty member or the Department Chair would ask another faculty member to fill the role.
- Stipends of $300 per intern is provided to faculty sponsors who are not receiving any other type of compensation for this purpose (such as departmental stipends or previously arranged course release because they have a large set of interns). To be eligible for the stipends (disbursed with October 31st pay), faculty sponsors should follow these best practices and submit internship grades by mid-term.
Spring term
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- Review the offer that the student has received and, if the site is not already known to you, familiarize yourself with the organization in a basic way.
- Work with the student as they draft and revise their Internship Proposal, specifying parameters for the required assignments (reflective journals, paper, presentation) and grading.
- Use the link sent via email from Handshake to approve the Internship Proposal online. Instructions for approving internships in Handshake are here (pdf and video).
- If you serve in more than one approver role, you will receive more than one email (Faculty Sponsor, Academic Advisor, Department Chair). It may appear to be a duplication, but it is not, and you must approve each one separately.
Summer term
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- Read and respond to journal entries on a weekly basis throughout the internship. Journal prompts are encouraged, and samples can be seen here.
- Contact the site supervisor by email or phone after the student has been working for 2-3 weeks to introduce yourself, make a connection, and ascertain how things are going from their perspective, making the Internship Office aware of any serious concerns.
Fall term
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- Assess the student’s submitted assignments and presentation, along with the site supervisor’s evaluation, and submit the internship grade via email to the Registrar by midterm.
If you have any questions along the way, just let us know. Your continuing support of student internships is appreciated, and the impact is significant!
Esther Livingston
Director of Internships
Berea College Office of Internships and Career Development
308 Stephenson Hall, CPO 2136, Berea, KY 40404
https://www.beyondberea.org/
livingstone@berea.edu
(859) 302-0051 mobile
