Environmental Studies Internships

Description and General Procedures

The Environmental Studies Internship offers students
majoring or minoring in Environmental Studies the opportunity
to apply their coursework in on-the-job situations.

One internship is required for the major. Students are encouraged
to consider pursuing a second internship before or immediately after graduation.

Overview

The Environmental Studies Internship (ES 401) offers students majoring or minoring in Environmental Studies the opportunity to apply their course work in on-the-job situations. Because the environmental field is competitive, an internship -- sometimes also known as a practicum -- is required for all ES students at Shenandoah. The Environmental Studies (ES) Program has some environmental directories and frequently receives job and internship announcements. These are posted on the department's bulletin boards in the Gregory Building.

An internship is intended for juniors and seniors, and students need to plan for these experiences at least a year in advance. Expect to spend a considerable amount of time searching for an appropriate situation. Work is supervised by a staff member in the organization with which the student finds a position. In addition, a Shenandoah University faculty member in ES will be in contact with the on-site supervisor. If the internship occurs within a reasonable distance from the University, a site visit may be arranged.

Upon completing the internship, the student will submit a final report to the ES Program Coordinator at Shenandoah University. The report will be reviewed and then discussed with the student in a final conference. This report, plus the on site supervisor's evaluation and the student's self-evaluation, will be the basis for the final internship grade.

Credits

The internship may be taken for 1, 2, or 3 semester hours' credit and is offered in the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Students register for credit under ES 401, Internship in Environmental Studies. Two semester hours of ES 401 credit are required for the major.

For each 40 hours in which the student performs professional level work or undergoes training for that work, one academic credit can be earned. Thus, a student working four 16-hour weeks would earn the required two semester hours of credit. However, students may find internship opportunities that run far longer than the required 64 hours. You are encouraged to pursue such experiences. A longer internship usually brings greater benefits to both the student and the employer. A maximum of three semester hours of credit may be earned during a given internship experience.

Schedule of Procedures and Paperwork

1. Discuss your career goals and interests with one or more faculty members. Conduct the search for a internship. You will need to prepare a resume and letter of application. Expect to do a considerable amount of phoning, letter writing and visiting potential internship sites.

2. Before finalizing arrangements for an internship, discuss it with the Environmental Studies Program Coordinator. Once the internship is approved, register for ES 401.

3. Before you begin the internship, leave the following information with the Shenandoah faculty member who will supervise your internship:

a. An address and telephone number where you can be reached during the internship.

b. The name of your on-site supervisor, and that person's address and telephone number. Call the organization, agency or business to obtain this information, if necessary.

4. By the end of the first week of your internship, you should have taken care of the following:

a. Finalize your job responsibilities and work schedule.

b. Prepare a list of 8-10 personal goals for the internship. Type or write these neatly and discuss them carefully with your on site supervisor. Both you and your on site supervisor should sign this goal statement.

c. Send a copy of 4b to the SU faculty member supervising your internship.

We strongly recommend that you keep a daily or weekly log of your schedule, observations and reflections in order to make writing the final report (see 9, below) easier.

5. Once 4b is received at Shenandoah, the faculty member will contact the on-site supervisor to see that arrangements are satisfactory to you and your sponsoring organization.

6. We require that your on-site supervisor formally evaluate you at least twice, halfway and at the end of the internship period.

This evaluation needs to be written and shared with the student.

7. The student should also prepare written self-evaluations at the mid-point and at the end of the internship. These should be shared with the on-site supervisor.

8. Send copies of 6 and 7 to your SU faculty supervisor.

9. The internship report is generally prepared during the final few weeks of the internship and then handed in or mailed to SU at the end of your internship. It will be a summary of the work completed and, more importantly, an analysis of what you learned. Describe your job responsibilities. Evaluate (using examples) how well you believe you accomplished each of your internship objectives.

In addition, discuss what you learned about your sponsoring organization, agency, or corporation. What do you think they do well? Poorly? Why do you say so? Would you like to work for them? Why or why not?

The report must be word processed. As a guideline, aim for ten double-spaced pages.

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Last updated by VMP on 16 May, 2003.