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Internships Program:
Information for Community Partners
As a form of experiential learning, internships allow students to develop transferable skills, assess strengths and interests, build a network of professional contacts, and evaluate career and/or graduate school options as they prepare for life beyond campus.
What makes a quality internship?
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Student is actively involved in developing learning goals/strategies as well as reflecting on those goals/strategies along with site supervisor
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Student and site are actively engaged in assessment/evaluation (self and otherwise) throughout the experience, with ample opportunity for feedback and reconsideration of goals and strategies
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Experience is shaped by problems/pressures arising from a real-work situation
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Positive supervision/mentorship
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Challenging assignment/project
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Match to student’s experience/abilities
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Allows student to excel, offers appropriate challenges
Additionally…
Credit versus Non-Credit
When considering an internship, students have two options: Career Experience and Academic Credit. Though each provides valuable experience, a for-credit internship offers students the unique opportunity to work with a faculty member on campus who assists in drawing ties between the classroom and work situation.
Reality Check
It is crucial for interns to experience the realities of working in a professional organization, including the vital importance of deadlines, the interdependence of team members, and the necessity of doing the tasks that may be less glamorous or less interesting in addition to those that are more stimulating and challenging.
The Big Picture
Even if an intern is assigned a specific project or task, it is important to spend time helping the student see how her/his work fits in the context of the wider organizational mission, the context in which the organization operates, and relevance to the intern’s prior learning, plans, and goals.
St. Olaf students have a long history of interning in the local community.
Below you will see information about academic credit internships St. Olaf students have completed in Northfield, Faribault, and Dundas. Although students may complete an internship either for credit or as a non-credit experience, the CEL is better able to track detailed data on academic internships because of the registration process. The number of students doing internships for credit has grown steadily over the past decade.
Since 1999, nearly 900 St. Olaf students (mostly juniors and seniors) have completed 955 academic internships, 20% of which have taken place in Northfield, Faribault, or Dundas. Nearly 70 different organizations in these three communities are represented in the numbers, including non- and for-profits as well as governmental entities.
The academic calendar impacts the timing of an internship.
The chart below represents the term during which students have completed academic internships in the local community. St. Olaf’s academic calendar dictates the number of hours per week a student may be available to work at an internship, ranging from 7 hours to 40 hours per week.
Internships may be unpaid or paid.
Nearly 30% of all academic internships tracked thus far have included some sort of pay or reimbursement for the students. Of those that have taken place in the Northfield, Faribault, and Dundas communities, approximately 11% have been paid in the form of either an hourly wage or a stipend.
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Hourly wages have ranged from $7 to $10.50 an hour (compared overall to $6/hour - $20/hour)
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Stipends have ranged from $400 to $3,000 (compared overall to $20 - $7500)
As the data shows, the local community has played a significant role in providing experiential learning opportunities for St. Olaf students in the form of for- and non-credit internships. The College and the Center for Experiential Learning are grateful for the ongoing support we have received, and look forward to continued partnership with organizations in the Northfield, Faribault, and Dundas communities!
Successful internships are mutually beneficial.
Interns provide:
Internship supervisors (that’s you!) provide:
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An opportunity for career exploration
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A resume-building experience
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An opportunity to test and develop skills
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A chance to draw ties between academic coursework and real-work situations
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Professional networking
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Confidence building and increased self-efficacy
The CEL facilitates internships in a variety of ways.
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The CEL assists with posting and marketing positions, as well as facilitating the interview process
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CEL staff consult with sites on how to develop and structure an internship that incorporates evaluation and reflection
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The CEL provides guidance on how to effectively supervise an intern and serve as a co-teacher to enhance the student intern’s learning
The following tips can help organizations host successful internships.
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Major doesn’t matter – St. Olaf students are receiving a liberal arts education, and can provide your organization with a broad range of transferable skills (communication, critical thinking, analytical ability, etc.).
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Setting clear expectations at the beginning of an internship is a key factor to success.
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Willingness to support students completing an internship for academic credit can help to offset issues of pay and resources, since the student will receive more formal guidance from CEL staff and a faculty supervisor in addition to site supervision.
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Embrace your role as co-teacher of a student intern, and work with CEL staff to troubleshoot issues as you develop your own expertise in supervising interns.
For more information…
Contact Sandy Malecha, Assistant Director of Internships Program, at 507-786-3249 or malechas@stolaf.edu
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