Internship Responsibilities
For an internship to be successful, all of the main participants (the intern, the on-site supervisor, and the faculty supervisor) must fulfill their responsibilities. The proposal should be carefully written as it is an agreement between the intern and the on-site supervisor as to what the intern will be doing while at the internship, and it is the agreement between the student and the College stating that the internship is of academic quality and worthy of receiving a unit's worth of credit.
As a student, you have a crucial part to play in ensuring the success of your internship, and you must be prepared to be proactive and use your initiative to ensure that it runs smoothly. It is your responsibility to:
Before the internship:
- Meet with the Internship Coordinator to brainstorm ideas for your internship.
- Research the field.
- Pinpoint a few internships that interest you.
- Develop a résumé that you can use to promote yourself for a specific internship.
- Meet with your faculty supervisor.
- Prepare an appropriate Academic Internship Proposal.
- Get all the necessary materials to the Internship Coordinator at least two weeks before the internship begins.
During the internship:
- Be punctual, and work the required number of hours, at the times agreed to by you and your supervisor.
- Notify the workplace if you are unable to attend as planned.
- Behave and dress appropriately to the particular workplace.
- Respect the confidentiality of the workplace, its clients and its employees.
- If you electronically post anything for or about your internship, know the companies policies concerning professional and social media. Remember that when you post online, more than your close circle of friends may see what you post.
- Regarding social media, remember that you are not only representing your host company, the College, and your family, more importantly, you are representing yourself and your professionalism - be careful what you post and beware of what others post about you.
- Check out responsibilities at the work site with the supervisor, and make sure you know what you are expected to do, and how you should behave.
- Be positive and enthusiastic about the internship; if things are slow, take the initiative, and volunteer for different tasks or other work.
- Discuss any problems with your supervisor and, if necessary, with the faculty sponsor and the Internship Coordinator.
- Remember that you are both a guest of the organization and a representative of the College; behave appropriately.
- Send journal/reflections to your faculty supervisor and the Internship Coordinator.
- Start networking with others in your career field.
After the internship:
- Send "Thank You" notes to your on-site supervisor.
- Reflect on what you have learned about your career field, your experience and what you have learned about yourself.
- Continue working on your paper and presentation; remember they are part of your grade a requirement that you have already agreed to.
- Schedule your presentation at a time that both your faculty supervisor and the Internship Coordinator can be present by September 30th, with the presentation to be completed by November 15th.