Responsibilities
Internships in Environmental Studies
Course Requirement
Students who intern for credit are responsible for the completion of a project/paper. The nature of the project/paper is determined by the intern and his/her faculty sponsor. The specifics of the project must be set forth in the "Internship Project Plan" form (SP-6—Word, PDF), which is to be signed by both the intern and the faculty sponsor. Since it is often not possible to work out a detailed plan in advance, submission of the formal plan may be delayed until the fourth week of the internship if necessary. Once complete, the plan should be submitted to your faculty sponsor (be sure to keep a copy for your records). Care should be taken in completing this form since it is a written record of the agreement detailing the academic work to be done and the basis upon which it is to be evaluated.
The project/paper serves two purposes: in addition to providing instruction relating to aspects of the field, it provides interns with an opportunity to share their internship experiences in a project/paper and to learn from other students.
The Internship Job Site and Your Performance
The major portion of the intern's time will be spent at the internship site carrying out projects assigned by the site supervisor. As explained in the first section, interns are formally evaluated twice during the semester. Interns are expected to work to the standards of the sponsoring organization, recognizing that their behavior reflects not only on themselves but on the college as well, and that less than satisfactory performance could result both in that internship being discontinued and in an unsatisfactory grade if there is an academic component.
Stay in Touch!
As previously explained, it is the responsibility of each intern to initiate and maintain necessary communication with his/her faculty sponsor throughout the term of the internship.
