Overview of SUSE Internship Program for
Masters Students
The Internship Program was developed to provide field experience for MA students in all Program areas with the intention of:
· allowing you to explore areas of research and practice that complement your formal learning
· providing experiences and networks that will assist in your future job search and career plans
· providing a different avenue to gain credits toward graduation or to take the place of a part-time job
· providing additional experience after you have completed your required internship or practicum
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When do most students do Internships?
The majority of students do not start internships until the spring quarter, after they have become readjusted to academia and fulfilled most of their requirements. There are, though, a significant number of students who start internships in fall or winter, even changing internships mid-year to add to their experience. If you are interested in credit, please see the handout “Guide for Faculty who Advise Master’s Students: Suggestions Regarding Academic Credit for Internships”). If you are not interested in doing an internship for credit, you may start at any point throughout the year, even in the middle of a quarter.
What are some examples of Internships?
In the past few years internships included
· Developing CA public schools issues briefs and helping organize annual policy conference for EdSource.
· Evaluating technology in classroom implementation grant at SRI, Education & Human Services program
· Developing a unit on "Asian Megacities" with the Stanford Project on International and Cross Cultural Education;
· Research assistants on a variety of WestEd research projects in science and math, reading and linguistics disciplines.
· Conducting research on educational technology training in CA in Community Affairs, Education Program, National Semiconductor
See the handout “Stanford School of Education Master’s Internship Placements” for more examples.
How are internships funded?
Most internships in for-profit companies and non-profit organizations are paid. The range is broad, from about $15 to $25 per hour. For other internships in non-profits, schools and community agencies, a program called Community Service Work-Study Internships is available to students who are U.S. citizens. Students who are eligible for Federal Work Study as part of their financial aid can be paid up to 10 hours per week during the academic year. Students will be paid approximately $15 per hour under the program. Please see the Internship Coordinator for more details and forms.
How do I find an Internship?
Plan ahead! It may take several weeks, even up to an entire quarter to locate and solidify the best internship to meet your needs. The sooner you start your search, the better. The following are a few resources that will be useful in your quest:
Watch for E-mail Announcements – Your Internship Coordinator, as well as other Academic Services staff immediately put out announcements of any paid positions to all students.
Look Through the Internship Database -- the database holds approximately 180 internships, most of them active and updated frequently. It is a valuable starting point, from which you can explore and print records. It is available at http://suse-internships.stanford.edu (if you are off-campus), or at http://suse-internships. You then need to enter your first name and last name and the password “letmein2000”. I have hard copies of additional information about most sites in my office.
Meet with the Internship Coordinator -- You may design an internship to meet your needs, working with the Internship Coordinator as your advocate. I have contacts with many organizations beyond those in the database, and may be able to help you design something unique. I also have confidential evaluations of many organizations from previous interns, which may aid in our selection of appropriate sites.
Meet with your Program Director -- If your program requires an internship or practicum (LDT, or Evaluation program of the APA masters), your advisor or other faculty members will have preferred sites where you can do your required fieldwork in funded projects in private industry, education research organizations, or schools.
Use the CDC -- the Career Development Center has many job announcements that are part-time, and suitable for student employment. Many of these may be crafted into internships. Advisors at CDC may know of organizations that we can contact to set up an internship, even if the organization does not presently have interns.
Job & Internship Listings -- jobs that come to SUSE are announced via e-mail to the “suse-jobs” distribution list. (See directions below on subscribing to that list.) They are then placed in the Job Binders (Job Binders reside on a bookshelf in the Academic Services office in Cubberley). Any of these job sites may be appropriate for internships as well.
Approximately once a week we prepare a summary of all the jobs, noting their location in binders, and send an e-mail bulletin to all interested SUSE students. Any internships that come in I send out via e-mail to any student subscribed to the internship list. To subscribe to these mailing lists:
Send a message to:
In the body of the message, type
Subscribe suse-jobs
OR
Subscribe suse-internships
You may subscribe to both in the same message. If you wish to be removed from either list, send a message to in the body of the message, type
Unsubscribe suse-jobs
OR
Unsubscribe suse-internships
What makes a Good Internship?
Some of the key features of a good internship are
· a supervisor who has some expertise in the student’s area of study, who is available at the work site, who can provide training or mentoring and who is truly interested in having an intern.
· opportunity to work on a project that is perceived to be of value, and will have a positive impact on the organization and/or the community.
· a supervisor who is an advocate for the intern to insure that the organization understands the intern’s purpose.
· an internship agreement that is taken seriously, is completed and the intern receives feedback on a regular basis, monitoring the advancement of the plan.
· encouragement to learn as much as is practical about the organization, to meet staff and integrate into the activities of the organization. Ideally, there are opportunities to meet other professionals in the field.
· a written evaluation of the intern that is completed at the end of each quarter or end of the internship period.
· good communication between the organization and the Stanford School of Education.
What do I do once I have found an Internship?
When you meet with a prospective site supervisor and agree that you will become an intern, there are just a few more steps to take…
Internship Agreement
The Agreement asks for information about how you will be evaluated, and specifies how many hours per week you will work. It also commits you to finishing any reporting or research you have agreed to complete for the site, and should clearly set the expectations for both sides. Once your supervisor has been determined and you have both signed the agreement, you should provide me a copy of it to keep in your permanent SUSE file. Note that there is a more detailed agreement for the Community Service Work-Study Internship.
Completing Your Evaluation of the Site
I have a simple form that I ask interns to fill out shortly before the end of their internships, which I keep in confidence. This helps determine which sites will fit which student's needs. It's very brief, but very important.
How can I gain Academic credit for my Internship?
You will do additional academic work related to your fieldwork, and the content, focus and volume of that work will be determined by you and the faculty member who will supervise you. Note that if you are required to do an internship or practicum (LDT and Evaluation programs), you will not follow these steps. You also may not be eligible for the Community Service Work-Study Internship.
· First, secure an internship site and supervisor.
· Then speak with your faculty advisor or another appropriate faculty member to determine that they will supervise you. (Sometimes it takes a little effort to find another faculty member, but your advisor may be able to make a good suggestion.)
· Decide with them the number of units appropriate to your internship, and the academic work you will do.
· Then, register for the class 380 -- Supervised Internship, with your faculty supervisor's section number (available from me or from the Master's Coordinator.)
· Your faculty supervisor should see and sign your internship agreement form as well.
· Be sure the supervising faculty member receives a grade report for your supervised internship, and files a grade for you!
Some examples of academic work students have done to receive credits include reading in the subject area of their internship work, writing reflections on their learning in their internship, writing a brief research paper (which may be the basis for a final project), developing lesson plans or part of a curriculum for a subject area for a specific population.
Kelly Trottier, SUSE Internship & Placement Coordinator
Stanford University School of Education,
485 Lasuen Mall, Room CU 140
Stanford, CA 94305-3096;
(650) 725-7652, FAX: (650) 725-7412
E-mail: Trottier@ stanford.edu
Hours: Monday – Thursday, 9 – 6pm.