For Employers and Internship Hosts
Hosting a Sterling College Intern
Sterling College’s Internship Program benefits both students and employers. Internships provide students opportunities to integrate academic learning with real-life employment. Students are exposed to supervised work experiences related to their curriculum and gain practical skills working in environmental fields. Like wise, employers are able to hire hard-working and knowledgeable students on a short-term basis.
If you think your organization would be a good match for our students and the Internship Program fill out the Internship Information Form and return it to our office. This information will enable us to enter your internship opportunity in our Internship Database—the first resource our students use when beginning their internship and/or employment search.
Hosting an intern is a wonderful, educational responsibility. To make sure an organization will be a good match for our Internship Program we offer the following thoughts.
REQUIREMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS
THE PROCESS
FAQ'S
REQUIREMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS
What does hosting Sterling College Interns entail? 1. These are learning experiences based on the philosophy of service-learning:
Service-learning is a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and development. Service-learning includes the key concepts of reflection and reciprocity. - Barbara Jacoby and Associates
2. Sterling College’s foundation is environmental stewardship; therefore our interns must work with organizations that are examples of this stewardship.
3. Internships are a minimum of ten weeks. Some internships can be as long as fifteen weeks.
4. A goal of the Internship Program is to provide self-empowering, independent experiences; therefore only one Sterling College student may intern at a host site concurrently.
5. Students are required to work at least 40-hours per week. Internships offers six college credits.
6. Organizations and supervisors facilitate four learning objectives. The first objective is the same for all students and is listed below. Students, according to their interests and course of study, create the other three learning objectives.
Learning Objective #1 : To understand my employing organization's history, budgetary processes (both natural resources and monetary inputs and outputs), mission (including long-term and short-term goals), and structure (who makes decisions and how are they made).
7. Supervisors will commit extra time (minimum of 60-minutes per week) to work with students to ensure students are being challenged and stretched. Therefore, supervisors are independent professionals or professionally affiliated with the employing agencies or institutions.
8. Organizations will allow the students the time and space to document their experiences through photography.
9. Organizations and supervisors will meet with Sterling College's representatives when they visit the internship sites to review the students' performance and progress.
10. Organizations are open to students learning about the administration of the organizations, how decisions are made, and how the organizations meet the bottom line.
11. Organizations and supervisors will allow students to grow as problem-solvers by being open to students identifying something that needs change and then providing the opportunity for the students to change it as they work to benefit their hosts.
Service-learning programs are distinguished from other approaches to experiential education by their intention to equally benefit the provider and the recipient of the service as well as to ensure equal focus on both the service being provided and the learning that is occurring. – Andrew Furco
12. Supervisors will provide written evaluations of students and the Sterling College's Internship Program upon completion of internships. (We provide the forms.)
A few other important notes:
*The Internship Program Director approves all internships before students accept positions.
*Internship experiences are about exploring new places. Internship host sites in the Craftsbury, Vermont, area are generally not good matches.
*Students are discouraged from completing internships with former employers, as this defeats some of the goals of the internship process.
THE PROCESS
Step One: Fill out the Internship Information Form and return it to our office. This information will enable us to enter your internship in our Internship Database—the first resource our students use when beginning their internship search.
Step Two: Interested students will submit cover letters, resumes, and any other requested material to the employer. Potential host organizations and students go through the hiring process.
Step Three: If a good match is determined between the student and the host organization and a position is offered, the student submits an Internship Details Form to Sterling College's Internship Program Director.
Step Four: The Internship Program Director will contact the host organization to create a Statement of Agreement between the host organization, the student, and Sterling College.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Can students collect unemployment benefits after their internships end?
A: No.
Q: Are employers required to provide housing to non-local, student-employees?
A: No. However, the majority of our students will seek housing assistance and may not be able to accept a position if housing is not provided.
Q: If I have a question about the Internship Program or prospective interns, to whom should I speak?
A: Questions or comments can be directed to the Internship Office staff.
Q: Will I have to travel to Sterling College to conduct interviews?
A: No, usually phone interviews are sufficient. Also, students may be able to visit organizations for interviews.
Q: Are employers expected to hire interns at the completion of their academic requirements at Sterling College?
A: No.
Q: Do I need to provide Worker's Compensation for interns?
A: We expect employers to be in compliance with existing state laws regarding Worker’s Compensation.
Q: Am I expected to provide health insurance to interns?
A: Students have their own health/accident insurance policies and forms for submitting claims. Work-related accidents should be filed with the employer's Worker’s Compensation. Students should have forms from their individual insurance companies for non-work related accidents. In either event, interns and/or employers should contact the Internship Office immediately.
Q: Are there other costs I should be aware of?
A: Generally no. Talk to the Internship Office if you have any questions or concerns.
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