Lifelong Education Administration and Policy

Adult Education

Graduate Handbook

Internship Guidelines

Introduction

The internship is part of the Adult Education program at the University of Georgia. The purposes of the program are to provide the student with career experience in an organizational setting, allow the development of skills appropriate to working independently, and to provide new learning opportunities for the student to move from theory to practice. The program requirements are flexible and can be negotiated between the student and the faculty advisor.

Students are usually responsible for developing their own internships under the guidance of their faculty advisor and site supervisor. In the past students in the department have completed internships in various organizations such as educational institutions, business and industry, voluntary organizations, community development organizations, libraries, or health care institutions.

Because so many of our students are employed full time, a student may choose between two types of internships. The student's faculty advisor will oversee either type of internship. The first type is when the student actually works a set number of hours in the organization under the direction of the site supervisor and has day-to-day responsibilities within the organization. The second type of internship is project centered and, if necessary, can be conducted at the student's location of full time employment. Here the student identifies a need and designs and implements a solution that will contribute to the improvement of the organization and allow the student to learn from the experience. The project centered internship might involve developing and delivering training programs, conducting evaluations, establishing new and innovative marketing strategies, or creating an entirely different program for the organization.

Internship Requirements

Each internship must meet certain criteria to be approved by the department:

The internship must demonstrate that the student is engaged in new learning and not repeating prior knowledge or activities.
Each student will prepare an individualized learning plan that includes specific learning objectives, activities and resources, schedule of completion, and criteria for accomplishing the stated objectives.
Each student must register for EADU 9700 prior to beginning the internship. EADU 9700 is repeatable up to 12 credit hours. Each semester credit hour equates to 45 clock hours.

Sometimes even the best planned internships are altered because of changes in the organization, the site supervisor changes, or the student may encounter difficulties. In this case, the student should contact the internship faculty advisor and arrange to alter the internship plan.

Internship Process

Each internship is a unique opportunity for students to plan, develop, and implement their own program of study. Although each internship experience is different there are certain steps that should be followed in order to receive credit for the program of study. Students should begin this process the semester before they register for the internship. Register in the semester you think you will complete the internship.

Meet with the faculty advisor to discuss possible ideas for an internship.
Research potential internship sites and learn as much as possible about the organization before contacting the site supervisor. A database of potential sites is available in the department or through the Career Planning and Placement Office of the University.
Contact the site supervisor and explain your internship objectives. Provide the site supervisor with materials that explain the internship program and the responsibilities of each person involved (Appendix A ).
Early in the process, meet with the faculty advisor and outline the plan for your internship program. Develop the learning objectives and activities to be achieved during the internship (Appendix B ).
Prepare an internship agreement listing the name of the organization, the site supervisor(s), learning objectives and potential outcomes. The student, the faculty advisor, and the site supervisor should sign this form. (Appendix B ).
Contact should be made between the faculty advisor and site supervisor at some time during or at completion of the internship, whether by a scheduled meeting or telephone call.
At the completion of the internship, provide the site supervisor with an evaluation form to complete and return to the faculty advisor (Appendix C ).
At the conclusion of the internship the student should provide the faculty advisor with a final report that includes items negotiated between the student and the faculty advisor. These may include the internship proposal, the log, the learning objectives achieved and not achieved, any learning objectives achieved that were not part of the original plan, and any products produced during the internship. The intern should also complete an evaluation form at the conclusion of the internship (Appendix C ).

Internship Proposal

The internship proposal is the beginning of the process and is the most valuable because it outlines the plan of what will be done. Discuss your ideas with the faculty and other students as a way to clarify your plans. The final written proposal allows the faculty advisor the opportunity to review and approve the internship plan.

The internship proposal should include the name, address, phone number, and name of the potential site supervisor. The estimated time span of the internship should also be included. Finally, the proposal should include a brief description of the activities and products that will result from the internship.

Internship Learning Agreement

The learning agreement describes as specifically as possible exactly what will be done during the internship, what learning should take place, and how it will be demonstrated that the learning has taken place (Appendix B). The learning agreement should include the following:

Dates of the internship
Description of the activity: describe the proposed project activities and products that will result from the internship.
Identify the goals and objectives of the internship. The goal is a general statement about the general area of activity. The objectives are specific steps used to achieve each goal. Each goal may have several objectives.
Describe the activity which is designed to meet each objective.
Describe how it will be demonstrated that each objective has been achieved. (For example, products such as curriculum development, handbooks, letters, log, or evaluations)
Describe any new learning that is expected during the internship
Provide space for the signatures and dates for the intern, faculty advisor, and site supervisor

Final Report

The final report generated from the internship might include but is not limited to the following items:

Internship Proposal
Agreement for Internship Study
Internship Learning Agreement
Internship Log (Appendix D : Sample).
Products and material from the internship
Evaluation of the Intern by the Site Supervisor
Evaluation of the Internship by the Intern

Reflective paper (this is an optional requirement, but it gives the student the opportunity to express what happened, what was most successful, what if anything should have been done differently)

Appendix A :
-Information for Site Supervisors

Appendix B :
-Internship Agreement Form Cover Sheet
-Sample Internship Learning Agreement

Appendix C :
-Evaluation of the Intern by Site Supervisor
-Evaluation of the Internship by Intern

Appendix D :
-Sample Intern Log