Dear Prospective Spring 2018ENS 550CapstoneStudents,
If you are planning to enroll in ENS 550 in Spring 2018, an unsigned draft copy of your INTERNSHIP PLANforyourcapstoneis due Friday October 20, 2017.
Please submit it by email to Dr. Megan Styles at .
Thecapstoneinternship guidelines and the internship proposalformcan be found in the graduate student handbook on the departmental webpage:
If you contact me, I can also share example internship plans with you.
Once you submit the plan to me, I will review it and send comments and suggested revisions. Most students require one to two rounds of revision before the final plan is accepted.
Remember thatif your internship is UNPAID,you need to work with Dr. Dennis Ruez to complete an affiliation agreement. This is a legal document that has sometimes taken months to get approved. You will not be allowed to enroll in ENS 550 without a fully approved internship plan and affiliation agreement (if applicable). If this applies to you, be sure to take care of this ASAP by emailing Dr. Ruez at .
Please contact Dr. Styles if you have any questions, concerns, etc. My office hoursfor Fall2017are3:30-4:30Tuesdays & Thursdays, and my office number is 217.206.8580. I am also happy to discuss thecapstonewith you at other times. Email me to schedule an appointment.
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Here areanswers to three FAQs....
Q: What should I do if I'm having trouble finding an internship?
A: Carefully consider what you might be able to do at your current place of employment. Students in the past have completed energy/waste audits, worked on education and training plans, or implemented other "green" initiatives in their current workplaces. Also consider what you want to do after you complete the program. This can be an opportunity to demonstrate expertise in a new field, test a new method, or make invaluable professional connections that will help you move in a new direction after you complete the degree. If you contact an agency or organization to ask about opportunities, be sure to tell them what you can offer them (e.g., don't just send a resume). It also helps to follow your personal connections in order to find an internship. Who do you know that has a connection to a group or organization that interests you? Can you volunteer or attend an event that will allow you to introduce yourself to someone that might be lookingforan intern? If you have not already arranged something, get started ASAP.
Q: How specific does my proposal have to be in terms of my planned activities?
A: The more specific you can be ahead-of-time the better. This is a great opportunityforyou to have an initial conversation with your supervisor about what you want to gain from this experience and what the organization or institution needs. Remember that this is a graduate-level internship, so your proposal should include some specific activities or projects that will allow you to exercise your skills, gain experience in a field that interests you, and generate outcomes that you can discuss in your final report. Some of you will be doing a thousand things at once and it may take timeforone or two experiences to emerge as the key outcomes of your internship, but the more directed you are at the outset, the more likely you and the organization will benefit from your work.
Q: How many hours is thecapstoneinternship?
A: You must complete a total of 240 hours. Ifyou enroll in thespringsemester, you must have completed these hours by May 11,2018. Contact Dr. Styles if you have questions about your proposed schedule.
Megan A. Styles, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Environmental Studies
University of Illinois Springfield (UIS)
Springfield, IL
uis.edu/ens