ARE YOU INTERESTED IN EARNING CREDIT THIS SUMMER FOR A SUMMER INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE?
If you are looking to earn summer internship credit, there is still time to land one and apply for credit. The required internship course starts on June 22 and runs until August 6. I can accept students into the class right up until June 22 but it does make sense to get things in order as soon as possible. Here is the process.
1. You need an internship. I can’t place you in one. You need to apply and get one. If you are still looking, I suggest you follow my blog: http://www.businessinternships.blogspot.com/ as there are postings going on there weekly. However, don’t just follow the blog! You should use all avenues – Careerlink (UMD’s job and internship portal), job fairs, mailing out of resumes to companies of interest, family and friends and please give Indeed.com a try. Almost weekly I hear from students who found great leads on Indeed. Also, the UMD Career Development Center has a new director and an associate director who has been with us for about 3 months. They are very energized and eager to help students with career plans. They will also soon be bringing on a new university level director of internships and so I really do believe that there will be quality support for internships form the CDC. They are located behind the UMASS Pass office in the campus center.
2. If you have an internship and want to pursue credit, I will need to approve it. Anything mentioned on the internship blog and 99% of the time anything from Careerlink will be approved. Keep these rules in mind: you must have professional supervision, you must be working in a professional setting (no dorms or from home), you can’t work for relatives, and there must be evidence of learning linked to your major or to some business discipline. Check out my best practices document at http://www.umassd.edu/media/umassdartmouth/charlton/otherformsandpdfs/Best_Practices_for_Internship_Providers.pdf
3. If you come upon an opportunity that you want to run by me, I will need the following basic information:
Description of the company. Please include your web URL (if you have it):
Primary duties and responsibilities:
What will the student learn from this experience (list 4 or 5 learning objectives)?
Job Title:
Academic preparation of the student required (graduate, senior, junior, courses taken, GPA, etc.):
Skills required:
Hours of work:
Start and end dates:
Primary supervisor and contact information:
4. Once I approve an internship, we then need to get you enrolled into the internship course. In the summer, that course is run through our University Extension program and there is a cost of about $1,100 to $1,200 for the course. I don’t get involved with the financial aspects of this and so I recommend you discuss those issues with the enrollment center. Also, to get into the course, you will need evidence of my approval. That can be done with an email from me.
If you are interested in seeing the syllabus for the online course, email me that request. Also, the course satisfies a business elective (3 credits) and only a business elective.
If you are interested in a quick guide to internships, you are welcome to stop by my office this month and I will give you a laminated 6 panel internship guide which has been sponsored by our Dean and authored by me. If you attended our internship info session a few weeks ago, then you would have received one of these as a "take-away".
Finally, as the semester winds down, I want you to know that after the end of the month of May, I will rarely be on campus again until September. I can always be reached via email and if you take the summer internship course, I will be available through that medium.
Good luck with your final exams.
Professor Griffin
