Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Program

Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Program

PRT 191: Required Internship (3-6 credits)

(3 credits = 150 hours; 6 credits = 300 hours; 4 or 5 credits are possible)

The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources

University of Vermont

(updated:April, 2015)

INTRODUCTION

Preparing for a career in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism involves study, planning and experience.Increasingly, employers are hiring college graduates who have relevant work skills and abilities beyond those certified by receipt of a diploma. In a competitive job market, relevant experience plays an important role in successfully securing employment. Internships are a terrific way to obtain skills, knowledge and work habits that lead to successful employment after college graduation.

Academic preparation in the professional field, development or acquisition of skills, and relevant experience are three keys to career employment. The Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Program requires completion of an internship (PRT 191) through which students receive academic credit while developing skills and abilities and obtaining work experience relevant to their future professional careers.

INTERNSHIP ADVANTAGES

Through an internship, a student has an opportunity to gain an understanding of the relationship between classroom theory and its practical application; to test career objectives to see if there is a fit between career requirements and the student’s objectives; to develop professional work habits; to improve interpersonal skills; to begin networking with professional contacts; to prepare for a smooth transition into full-time employment; and occasionally to earn funds to partially support college education.

In turn, an employer has the opportunity to establish a pool of potential professional employees with demonstrated ability; to train highly motivated students; and to develop an efficient training program. It does occasionally happen that an internship host hires an intern who is about to graduate!

TheParks, Recreation, and Tourism Program receives student and industry feedback that can affect curriculum change; and PRT gains increased rapport with community interests and encourages community and professional support for the University programs.

INTERNSHIP GOALS

Internships are more desirable as work experiences than normal seasonal employment since they involve a commitment on the part of the cooperating organization to provide a high-quality and varied learning experience. Some internship hosts maintain continuing, but seasonal, internship programs, and others may establish such programs in response to requests initiated by either the student or the program. Most 191 internships are not paid, though occasionally one is. An internship ideally exposes the student to a broad range of activities or functions within the cooperating organization. Some internships may involve a primary job or work responsibility, but these must be coupled with the opportunity for exposure to other aspects of the cooperating organization’s operation in order to receive approval.

INTERNSHIP REQUIREMENTS

All internships MUST be approved before you begin work for an organization or business. Meet with a faculty advisor to discuss internship opportunities in the semester before you want to do the internship. Students often set up their own internship experience with input and assistance from a faculty advisor. The basic requirement is 150 hours of work experience forthree academic credits.

Complete Form A (attached) after you are accepted for an internship by a host business / organization. Be sure your host representative signs Form A, thenreturn Form A, plus this form (signed by you – see below)to your faculty advisor.

Register for three credits of PRT 191 (this can be extended up to 6 credits of work experience withfaculty approval of an increased scope of learning and number of hours of internship participation).

Complete the internship, and near the end of that experience, have your supervisor complete the Evaluation Form B(attached) and return it to your faculty advisor.

Write your Final Report by midterm of the next semester, and turn it in to your faculty advisor.

ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS:

Credits: You may earn credit for PRT 191 ONLY in the semester in which you are taking the internship, or in a following semester. Plan your credits in advance to leave space for PRT 191 credits.

Health Insurance: Yourhealth insurance must continue during your internship, either through UVM or on a family policy.

INTERNSHIP FINAL REPORT

An internship is more than just a job: it is also a valuable experience in your academic preparation for a professional career. Post-internship evaluation is a necessary and valuable part of the process. Thus, following completion of the internship, students are expected to prepare a final paper that presents a critical analysis of the experience. While the paper should include a description of activities undertaken during the internship, it should also go beyond description to reflect upon and analyze the overall experience. At a minimum, you should address the following topics in the paper: Why I selected this internship; What this business is all about (how the organization functions in terms of its goals); My work experience (a comprehensive, detailed description of the work you performed; give examples); How the work I did relates to my PRT program (the concepts, theories, and practices learned in the UVM classrooms); How the work I did relates to what I want to do in the future; Constructive comments (a personal evaluation of positive and negative aspects of the internship experience, assessment of challenges encountered and a discussion of potential solutions); anything else relevant to your experiences; and Conclusion(to wrap up your paper appropriately).

The final paper will be easier to write if you keep a daily or weekly journal recording your activities, issues you encountered, and examples of your experiences during your internship. If you completed any tangible products for the organization during the internship (a survey, a trail guide, an interpretive brochure, site plan, marketing PowerPoint, Facebook presentation, etc.), then these may also be submitted with the final paper. Your final paper should be handed in to your academic advisor by the midterm of the semester after the internship. You might also like to share a copy of your final paper with the organization providing the internship.

I understand and agree to ALL PRT 191 Requirements as listed above.

Signature:______Print Name:______Date:______

Form A: INTERNSHIP HOST ACCEPTANCE OF STUDENT INTERN

Name of Student:______

Local UVM Address:______

City:______State:______Zip:______

Local Phone:______Email:______

Year in PRT Program: ______GPA: ______

UVM Faculty Advisor:______

Advisor’s Email:______

Host Business or Organization:______

Department or Division:______

Address:______

City:______State:______Zip:______

Name of Supervisor and Title:______

Phone:______Email:______

Internship Start Date:______

Ending Date (tentative):______

STUDENTS: Please answer the two questions below (scroll down if you’re reading this electronically; otherwise, see reverse).

SUPERVISORS: Please review student answers, then sign and return via Mail, or Scan and Email to:

Faculty Advisor (named above)

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources

Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Program, George D. Aiken Center, UVM

81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT 05405-0088

STUDENTS:

1. In the space below, write a descriptive outline of the internship job, what it will include, and the likely scope of activities and learningopportunities.Use your words, based on your understanding and input from the Host organization or business. Also, briefly identify any special terms of employment in the Internship.

STUDENTS:

2. What are your expected outcomes of the internship experience?This should identify what you expect to gain from this experience. Once completed, you’ll see how the actual internship experience compared to what you originally expected.

SUPERVISOR:

Our organization/business accepts this student as an intern and/or employee for the time and terms specified above. We agree to meet the intern’s expectations to the best of our ability, as outlined above, through a varied experience. We agree to evaluate the intern’s performance (form attached) at the completion of the internship.

______

Signature of Host Business or Organization RepresentativeDate

Form B: EVALUATION OF STUDENT INTERN PERFORMANCE

Name of Student: ______Student ID #: ______

Internship Job Title: ______

Internship Organization: ______

Phone:______Email:______

We appreciate your cooperation in rating this student in terms of his or her internship performance. We recommend that this rating be shown to and discussed with the Intern before it is returned to the academic advisor, and that you, the supervisor, discuss both strength and weaknesses with the intern. The performance rating should be conducted immediately prior to the student’s departure. If you have questions regarding this evaluation form, please contact the student’s academic advisor by email or phone.

This Evaluation was prepared by:

Name of Supervisor:______Title: ______

Signature:______Date: ______

This Evaluation was reviewed by:

______

Signature of InternDate

SUPERVISOR:

Please use the space below to provide any General Comments, and please complete the Evaluation Formon the next page. Or, send an Evaluation letter as a Word attachment to an email to the student’s internship adviser:

Faculty Advisor(named on Form A)

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources

Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Program, George D. Aiken Center, UVM

81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT 05405-0088

EVALUATION

Please rate the intern by checking one column for each of the following criteria (mark “NA” if a category is not appropriate or is not related to the internship experience):

Criteria Rating

Personal Characteristics / Excellent / Good / Fair / Unacceptable
Cooperates with management
Cooperates with other staff
Willingness to work
Dependable
Honest
Ethical Behavior
Shows initiative
Appearance
Personality (disposition appropriate for field)
Motivation
Accepts supervision
Accepts constructive evaluation
Punctuality and attendance
Professional attitude

Skills

Show leadership ability
Communication--speaking
Communication--writing
Shows mechanical ability
Learns new operations easily
Adaptable to a variety of jobs
Overall skills for industry
Completed tasks on time
Fully and carefully completed assignments

Potential for career in this profession

Overall Performance

Thank You!