INFORMATIOn for employers

Why employ students for academic internships?

What goes into preparing for an academic internship?

What are the expectations for site supervisors?

What is involved in recruiting a student intern?

Why employ students for academic internships?

Building synergy
Academic internships are “win-win” situations – host organizations and students alike benefit from participating in an internship program. Based on our mission, recent recognition, and strength in research, the Department of Communication prepares students for our rapidly-changing society with important transferable skills: critical thinking and problem-solving, diversity education, analysis of quantitative and qualitative information, and effective oral and written communication of ideas. Our juniors and seniors are well poised to bring value to your organization.

To ensure that your organization will continue to have access to outstanding student interns, building a long-term relationship with our department’s internship program allows us to continue to enhance our curriculum and meet the ever changing demands of professional life in communication related fields.

Host organization benefits
The primary benefit for a host organization is that it can evaluate a prospective employee nearly risk-free. A semester-long internship, rather than a brief interview, allows accurate assessment of competencies. In turn, many companies hire their most competent interns for full-time positions after graduation . Additional internship benefits for the organization include the following:

• inexpensive sources of competent assistance without paying fringe benefits;
• highly motivated and productive employees;
• the release of full-time employees from routine tasks;
• fresh perspectives and new ideas;
• the opportunity to evaluate and cultivate potential full-time employees.

Student benefits
Employers appreciate work experience in newly graduated job applicants. Internships are seen as a way for students to help translate academic preparation into marketable job skills. Thus, internships not only provide students with valuable work experience, but they also provide a means for building the bridge between their academic coursework and solidifying career decisions .


What goes into preparing for an academic internship?

The Department of Communication and Hope College rely on the organization and the Site Supervisor accepting an intern to aid in the education and professional development of the student. Below are some typical concerns for developing an internship position in your organization.

Expectations for the site organization
While compensation of interns is not a condition for the experience, organizations may have a program or policy where a small wage or stipend for interns is offered. There is no prohibition of payment of interns, though remuneration is incidental to the educational goals of the internship. The host organization should offer close, professional supervision of each student intern.

Organizations should also consider what they are seeking by hosting an internship. If seeking to set up an internship program, your organization may need to consider the following:

• Set goals: What is your organization seeking from the position or program? – additional help on a project, a motivated new employee, the opportunity to provide an interesting and rewarding experience, personnel with management potential, fresh new ideas?
• Write a plan: Based on your goals for the internship position or program, set up a plan for meeting those goals. Your organization’s approach will depend on your specific resources and needs, and may include your expectations for the student intern’s “end product”, where and with whom the student intern will work, how to acclimate the student intern to your organization, etc.
• Select a Site Supervisor: A very important part of your plan should be the assignment of a Site Supervisor — that is, someone from the intern’s department who will be in charge of the intern. This person should be selected because he or she likes to teach or train, has the resources to do it, and is a professional in the field in which the student is studying.

Articulating responsibilities of the student intern
It is vital to have an accurate description of the student intern’s responsibilities to your organization in order to recruit a student intern and to evaluate the intern during the internship. This description, based upon your goals and plan, will be incorporated into the required learning contract. Site supervisors and interns are responsible for completing the learning contract and must submit it to the Internship Director before the internship can be approved for credit. While developing the internship responsibilties, please keep in mind that while the Department of Communication understands certain professions require a reasonable amount of clerical work (i.e., photocopying, faxing, stuffing envelopes), these tasks should not represent the bulk of the student’s internship responsibilities. Ideally, the internship Site Supervisor should be involved in describing the internship job responsibilities, and should act as the primary contact for the organization during recruitment (the Site Supervisor should be listed on all recruitment materials).

What are the expectations for site supervisors?

Mentoring the student intern
The primary expectation for the Site Supervisor is that this person mentors the student intern in her/his respective field. Considerations for mentoring a student, in order to maximize the possibility of a successful internship are:

• Orient the intern to the organizational culture.
• Involve the intern in the project planning process and invite project suggestions from other staff members.
• Assign projects that are accomplishable.
• Provide training as needed.
• Explain the rationale behind work assignments.
• Hold interns accountable for projects and deadlines.
• Treat interns as part of the organizational staff and invite them to staff meetings.

Evaluating the student intern
The Site Supervisor also is responsible for evaluating the student intern’s performance. Such evaluations include:

• Completion of a Learning Contract in consultation with the student intern prior to their enrollment in COMM 399 (internship program) for credit
• Completion of a Midterm Evaluation supplied by the student intern
• Completion of a Final Evaluation supplied by the student intern

These three evaluations are required for academic credit. The organization and Site Supervisor, however, are not limited to these forms of evaluating the student intern. For more information about evaluation, refer to the Internship Handbook, Section 1.6.

Policies
Students and host organization members are expected to adhere to professional codes of conduct. For specific information on Hope College policies for ethical and professional conduct, refer to the following documents:

• Hope College Policy on Discrimination
  Hope College is committed to the concept of equal rights, equal opportunities, and equal protection under the law. Hope College admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin, sex, creed or handicap to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at Hope College. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin, sex, creed or handicap in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, and athletic and other school-administered programs. With regard to employment, the college complies with all legal requirements prohibiting discrimination in employment.
• Hope College Policy on Sexual Harassment http://www.hope.edu/admin/documents/sexualh.html
• Hope College Virtues of Discourse http://www.hope.edu/academic/communication/virtuesbrochurenew.pdf

Contact the Hope College Department of Communication Internship Director with any problems, concerns, or questions.

What is involved in recruiting a student intern?

Timing of an academic internship
The traditional acadmic calendar consists of a fall semester and a spring semester, each 16 weeks long, with a summer break. Because academic interships allow students to earn academic credit, internships should follow the academic calendar as closely as possible. Some exceptions, however, may be granted at the discretion of the Department of Communication Internship Director.

Students begin registering for fall and summer academic credits in mid-March and for spring semester academic credits in mid-October. Students need to apply and be approved for academic internship credits prior to registering for those credits, therefore students start looking for internships prior to the registration period. It is encouraged that your organization take advantage of this timing since well-prepared students and organizations are typically paired up quickly before and during registration. Exact academic calendars can be found at the Hope College Registrar website .

Recruiting Hope college student interns through Career Services
Once you have articulated the responsibilities of the student intern, Hope College Career Services provides resources for posting positions, setting up on-campus recruitment opportunities, interviewing, and hiring student interns. Using these services ensures that your internship position is made available to all Hope College communication students thus increasing your pool of potential student interns. The Department of Communication works cooperatively with Career Services in the recruitment process; as such, all position descriptions should be posted with Career Services. Be sure to review Career Services guidelines for posting postitions, on-campus recruiting (if desired), interviewing, and hiring practices. NOTE: You may choose to use Career Services to post non-academic internships, however, these opportunities will not be listed as “academic internships.”

Contact information
The Hope College Department of Communication looks forward to working with you to create the best possible internship experience for your oganization and our students. For any further information, you can contact the department at (616) 395-7595 or the department Internship Director listed below.

Internship Director, Academic Year 2011-2012:
Rebecca DeVries
(616) 395-7137
email: rdevries@hope.edu

Hope College Career Services
616-395-7950
email: careers@hope.edu
http://www.hope.edu/student/career/index.html