Student Internships

Description

An Internship Program provides the mechanism for students to earn academic credit for relevant work experience outside the University. An Internship is essentially a three-way partnership among the student, the agency and the School. The Internship may relate to the student’s thesis research and have the same Faculty Supervisor but it should be a separate "stand alone" project. The primary goal of the Internship Program is to assist students to develop professional skills and capabilities through guided "hands on" experience in a workplace environment while gaining academic credit. Typically an Internship involves the equivalent of one day per week during one term; other agreed upon arrangements are possible. Students have worked with local government planning offices and development firms.

1. If appropriate, students are encouraged to do one internship during their time at SCARP. The student should have taken at least one term (4 months) in the Masters program before starting an internship.

2. In exceptional circumstances at the Director’s discretion, students can do a maximum of two internships during their time at SCARP. Memos by the student outlining why the second internship is important to their education and from their faculty advisor recommending the second internship need to be submitted to the Director for her approval.

3. Each internship course is worth a maximum of three-credits. Two internships courses are worth a maximum of 2 courses X three-credits = six-credits.

4. Students doing MITACS internships can get credit for one internship course credit of three-credits. This is included in the maximum number of credits allowed for internships.

Internship Objectives

To help students to develop professional capabilities and planning expertise through orientation within a planning agency;
to strengthen the connection between the academic and professional communities; and
to enable professionals to keep informed about contemporary planning literature.

Arranging the Internship

The student, in consultation with his or her Faculty Supervisor identifies the kinds of work experiences appropriate to undertake;

it is recommended that the student contacts the agency to schedule time for an interview at least six weeks prior to the beginning of the term in which the Internship will take place;
the student meets with the Agency Supervisor and develops preliminary objectives for the project; and
the Faculty Supervisor, student and Agency Supervisor complete placement by ratifying the Internship Agreement form.

Formulating the Internship Agreement

The student and Faculty Supervisor should work together in creating the Internship Agreement. The student is expected to outline goals for the Internship that are relevant to his or her academic objectives.

The student, with the assistance of the Agency Supervisor, then describes the work required to fulfill his or her objectives. This outline will form a work program for the Internship. The Internship Agreement should describe:

the project (a planning report or as otherwise stated in the Internship Agreement);
the Internship objectives;
the outline of the anticipated job description including specific projects or assignments;
the educational opportunities that are provided by the agency;
Internship schedule including timelines for the project with relevant deadlines and expected completion dates.

The Internship Agreement represents an informal understanding on the part of the participants to take part in a teaching and/or learning exercise of mutual benefit to all parties. The School of Community and Regional Planning can assume neither responsibility nor liability for any work (complete or incomplete) undertaken by the student in the course of his or her Internship studies.

Responsibilities

Forms: Agreement ( PDF, 65K ), | Mid-Term Evaluation ( PDF, 52K ) | Final Evaluation ( PDF, 39K ), | Post-Internship Assessment ( PDF, 65K )

Faculty Supervisor:

Consults with the agency to determine educational objectives, appropriate experiences, and the expectations for the student during the project;
facilitates communication between the agency and student;
discusses with the student his or her academic objectives;
approves the student’s choice of agency placement;
helps the student to develop an Internship Agreement that integrates his or her goals with those of the Internship project;
reviews the following project status reports:
- a Mid-term Evaluation from the agency that evaluates the student’s performance thus far;
- a final planning report (or as otherwise described in the Internship Agreement) from the student at the end of the Internship that satisfies the academic standards of the University;
- an Internship Final Evaluation from the agency that evaluates the student’s performance; and
- a Post-Internship Assessment from the student that evaluates the experience.
the Faculty Supervisor assigns the student a grade for the Internship in consultation with the agency and submits it to the Administrator.

Student:

Consults with a Faculty Supervisor to formulate academic goals that can be discussed with the agency during the interview;
develops, with the assistance of the Faculty Supervisor and the Agency Supervisor, an Internship Agreement outlining objectives and a work schedule (including timelines and expected completion dates) and has it endorsed by all parties; the completed Internship Agreement form along with a Registration/Change of Registration form are to be submitted to the School Administrator;
learns about and acts in a manner consistent with the agency "culture" and its commitment to a high level of service to the public;
learns about and adheres to agency regulations regarding confidentiality and public access to information;
submits a final planning report (or as otherwise stated on the Internship Agreement) to the Faculty and Agency Supervisors by the term’s designated due date for final papers; and
submits a Post-Internship Assessment to the Faculty Supervisor at the conclusion of the course.

Agency Supervisor:

Provides the student with realistic, challenging assignments that facilitate learning (students should not be conducting work of a clerical nature);
helps the student learn about the agency "culture" and adjust to the workplace;
informs the student about the agency regulations regarding confidentiality and public access to information;
provides compensation for any pre-approved costs (i.e., printing, materials, postage) incurred by the student while conducting the project;
provides the student with ongoing feedback about his or her progress;
submits both an Internship Mid-term Evaluation and Internship Final Evaluation of the Internship experience to the School, describing achievements and providing suggestions for improvement; and
participates in assigning the student a grade for the Internship.

Ownership of Research

The student and agency both retain ownership over the product produced during the Internship. Publication and other use of information are subject to the agency’s confidentiality policies. Acknowledgment is subject to the agency’s standard practices with respect to staff and consultant reports. Neither the student, the agency nor the School will attribute the report to any of the other parties without prior agreement.

Termination of Agreement

All parties have the right to terminate the Internship Agreement for any cause, subject to discussion between the student, Faculty Supervisor, Agency Supervisor and agency management.

Registration

Students wishing to register for an Internship course are required to complete and submit to Patti Toporowski an "Internship Agreement" form (available on SCARP website). Students must complete and submit this form to receive credit for an Internship course.

It is also possible to register for an Internship course during the Summer Session.
Note: Catalogue numbers differ in the Summer and Winter Sessions.