Internship Mentor Roles and Responsabilities

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Information for Faculty Mentors

	Faculty Mentor Role and Responsibilities Student Responsibilities Internship Specialist Role and Responsibilities Timeline of Internships Writing the Overall Goal Statement Definition of a Learning Objective Developing Learning Objectives Learning Objective Example (Note: This is a PDF document.)

Faculty Mentor Role and Responsibilities

The faculty mentor role is primarily one of connecting the student's learning in the internship to academic and theoretical learning in the classroom. The faculty mentor also acts to give the student feedback on their assignments, professional advice on career related issues and career tracks in their field. The faculty mentor and employer are often the student's first formal contact with professionals in their chosen field and can offer invaluable advice to students.

There are three major required points of contact between student and faculty mentor:

At the start of the student's internship the faculty meets with student to assist the student in developing an Overall Goal Statement and three Learning Objectives for the internship. This should take place within the first 2-3 weeks of the student's internship.

At the mid-way point of the student's internship the faculty meets with the student to discuss the student's Mid-internship Reflection Questions and to help them prepare the requirements for the final portfolio.

At the end of the student's internship the faculty attends the Final Presentation Meeting in the Career Center and offer informal feedback to the student.

The Career Center will provide a $100 stipend to Faculty Mentors

Student Responsibilities

At the start of the internship students are responsible for scheduling a meeting with the faculty mentor to complete the Overall Goal Statement and Three Learning Objectives. They must hand this assignment in to the Internship Coordinator.

At the mid-way point of the internship students are responsible for completing the Mid-internship Reflection Questions and scheduling a meeting with the faculty mentor to review their answers. Students must also hand in this assignment to the Internship Coordinator.

At the end of the student's internship: Students create a Final Internship Portfolio and schedule a Final Presentation Meeting with the Internship Coordinator and the Faculty Mentor. The portfolio is handed in to the Internship Coordinator.

All assignments are detailed fully in the syllabus. (Note: This is a PDF document.)

Internship Specialist Role and Responsibilities

The internship specialist is the primary contact at BCC for students and employers both before a secured internship and after the student has registered for credit.

The Internship Specialist is responsible for putting a student in contact with a faculty mentor and monitoring the student's progress throughout the internship.

All assignments are handed in to the Internship Specialist for grading.

The Internship Specialist is the Instructor for the class and attends the final Presentation Meeting with the student and faculty mentor and awards the final grade based on the criteria established in the course syllabus.

	Timeline of Internships Internships typically last 3-6 months and are not dependent on the quarter system; therefore it is the responsibility of the student to inform the faculty mentor of the time-frame of their internship. Students are given up to one additional quarter, after the quarter in which they register to complete the academic requirements for an internship.

	Writing the Overall Goal Statement An overall goal statement should be the "big-picture" idea of why you are interested in your internship. A business student might want to gain experience in a corporate environment while an undecided student may want to explore a career. Please write one paragraph for the overall goal.

Definition of a Learning Objective

'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat
'I don't much care where--' said Alice.
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
'--so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation.
'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.'

--from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

A learning objective is a written statement describing specific measurable achievements to accomplish during the internship experience. The learning objectives should relate to the job, represent the job functions and duties, assist in professional growth and development, and relate to the course of study or major. Moreover, they should be realistic enough to attain during the internship. Preparing learning objectives will provide a number of benefits, they will:

give direction to what you learn.
help you get more out of your internship experience and allow you to focus on your career goals.
provide you with a listing of documented learning outcomes resulting from your work term. This helps give your experience more academic integrity by providing documentation of learning outcomes.
show your employer that you are goal-oriented and interested in learning during your internship.

Developing Learning Objectives

Objectives should be as specific as possible so that they can be evaluated at the end of the experience. They should be:

Specific: It is difficult to know what someone should be doing if they are to pursue the objective of "working harder." It is easier to recognize "develop an Access database."

Measurable: Make sure to include what the scope of "developing a website is" This way everyone is clear as to what your objective means. It is also easier to appreciate the effort of "develop a simple Access database to track customer orders and shipments."

Realistic: Some goals may not be realistic within the time from of the internship, while an Access database that only includes customer orders and shipments might be realistic also including all customer purchases, contact information, complaints, payments and billing might be too much. However, your database might have the capabilities to add these things.

Rewarding: Your learning objectives should help you reach your overall goal and grow academically and professionally.

Learning Objective Example (Note: This is a PDF document.)

Questions? Email: career@bellevuecollege.edu

Last Update: 12/2008