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Macalester and You: Partners in Learning
Macalester College’s internship program is an academic program
designed to provide students with structured, off-campus, learning-work
experiences in a wide range of community organizations in the Twin
Cities and around the world. Each year, more than 275 students from
26 academic disciplines participate in credit-bearing internships
in the fine arts, non-profits, education, government, and business.
Participating in the program means engaging in an educational strategy
that links classroom learning and "real-life" applications.
Organizations provide challenging, substantial work experiences
for students and agree to supervise and evaluate their performance.
In exchange, host organizations receive valuable work contributions
and energy from creative, highly motivated, inquisitive students
who may one day enter the work force in that field. With input from
a faculty member and the internship site supervisor, the student
develops a Learning Contract that outlines learning objectives for
the internship and describes how the experience will be evaluated/graded.
A successful internship requires the coordinated efforts of many
partners, playing different roles:
Student intern
The student is responsible for searching, planning, and arranging
the internship, utilizing the support and resources of the Internship
Program office and the faculty sponsor. The intern is expected to
fulfill all performance expectations in the internship/work setting
as well as all academic learning outcome measures as outlined in
the Learning Contract.
Internship site
The community organization hosts the intern in a role involving
work that is substantial, progressive, and challenging. While the
efforts of the intern should clearly benefit the organization, it
is important to keep in mind that this should be primarily a quality
learning experience for the student where they may develop skills,
learn about the world of work, and connect the experience to their
academic discipline. It is inappropriate for a site to rely on an
intern to replace a paid staff position, to do only administrative
support work, or to function autonomously and without supervision.
Site supervisor
This person at the internship site is responsible for supervising
the actual hands-on work of the intern in the organization. The
site supervisor provides a written position description, necessary
orientation and training, and completes evaluations of the intern's
performance/progress at the midway point and the end of the term.
The internship site supervisor supports the student in learning
new skills, exploring career options, and applying new knowledge
through the “hands-on” work in the organization.
Faculty sponsor
The professor oversees the academic direction of the learning experience
of the internship, helping the student make the connections between
the work experience and theory learned in the classroom. As the
internship progresses, the intern maintains contact with the faculty
sponsor for ongoing guidance, direction, and support. At the end
of the experience, the sponsor awards a grade and credit for the
completed internship based on feedback received from the internship
site supervisor and academic assignments that demonstrate what has
been learned during the experience.
Internship Program Director
This low level bureaucrat is responsible for the administration
and coordination of the efforts of all the players in the internship
process. The Director facilitates the student’s search for
an internship, the registration process, and the gathering/dissemination
of evaluation data. This person is a resource to community sites
in the development and promotion of quality internships and is available
to faculty interested in incorporating experiential education components
in their coursework. The Director is the primary source of support
to students and site supervisors alike in addressing problems that
might arise in the internship.
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