Albright Internship Guidelines – Albright College

Albright Internship Guidelines

Internship Instructions

Student: How to Request an Internship on Handshake

Employer (Site Supervisor): How to Approve an Internship Request on Handshake

Faculty: How to Approve an Internship Request on Handshake

Internship Approval Process

There are three steps to the internship approval process:
1) The student’s site supervisor must begin the approval process. They should receive an email to complete an approval survey to submit within a week of approval start.
2) The student’s faculty advisor must complete the approval survey next.
3) Finally, the registrar completes the approval.
Once all three responses are submitted, then the internship experience is officially recognized with the college, and internship hours can count. The approval process is in chronological order, so the site supervisor must complete the survey first before the faculty advisor, then the registrar.

Here is a short video with a breakdown of the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DK4IomdonA

Internship Responsibilities

Student Responsibilities 

  • Request an Experience through Handshake once student has chosen their internship site and confirmed with their site supervisor. Students should complete this process by following these instructions to REQUEST AN EXPERIENCE and have both their faculty and site supervisor complete the internship approvals by the appropriate deadline.
  • Conduct my own due diligence with regard to a particular internship site and working conditions.
  • Perform to the best of my ability those tasks assigned by my site internship supervisor which are related to my learning objectives and to the responsibilities of the position.
  • Follow all the rules, regulations and normal requirements of this placement’s organization.
  • Fulfill the academic learning objectives required by the Department and/or my supervising professor.
  • Notify the Experiential Learning and Career Development Center and my supervising professor of any changes I need to make to this agreement or any problems that may develop during the on-the-job experience.
  • Maintain sufficient health, accident, and hospitalization insurance to cover me during my Internship at my sole expense.
  • Maintain insurance on my personal vehicle if used for the benefit of the internship site. Any liability for injury or property damage resulting from this use is solely on my personal vehicle insurance coverage and/or any insurance coverage provided by the internship site.
  • Be responsible for any collection of wages due or any taxes resulting from any payments that may occur.
  • Be responsible for any injury I may suffer in the course of my Internship except for those resulting from the internship site’s negligence or Albright’s intentional misconduct or gross negligence.
  • Understand and comply with the professional standards and decorum of the internship site.
  • Observe standards of conduct that will not compromise Albright College in the eyes of individuals and organizations and will promote the continuance of future Internships for Albright students.

Supervising Professor Responsibilities

  • Work with the student to formulate concise, clear goals and learning objectives for the Internship and specify the minimum number of hours expected (standard number of hours to receive credit are 130 – 150).
  • Submit a syllabus with this and other course information to the Registrar prior to the start date of the Internship and ensure that the student has a copy and understands expectations. Academic criteria for credit depend on the professor’s judgment but should conform to departmental internship guidelines, if any.
  • Contact the student during the Internship to provide guidance and support.
  • Contact the site internship supervisor at least once during the semester to discuss the student’s performance and the applicability of theory to the field experience.
  • Assess the student’s learning based upon the internship site supervisor’s evaluation and the completed activities required by the department such as: specified hours at the site, journal entries, meetings with the site internship supervisor, final paper or other visible product, and/or public oral presentation.
  • Remain available to assist the student with any problems arising during the course of the Internship.
  • Complete both the approval survey and final evaluation survey from Handshake.

Site Internship Supervisor Responsibilities

  • Provide a position description to be used by the supervising professor and the student intern to determine the appropriateness of the Internship.
  • Clearly discuss the responsibilities and parameters of the Internship with the student intern.
  • Work with the student intern to develop on-site goals and learning objectives that are consistent with the goals set by the supervising professor.
  • Pay the intern a fair wage if the company does not meet the guidelines for an unpaid internship as described in the Department of Labor Fair Labor Standards Act.
  • Provide the student intern with adequate information and instruction for safe, effective functioning in the workplace.
  • Provide ongoing supervision and feedback to the student intern about his/her performance.
  • Be available to talk with the supervising professor and/or meet during a site visit.
  • Notify the supervising professor as soon as possible of any problems that arise regarding the student intern or any changes in the student intern’s work status, schedule or performance.
  • Provide a candid written evaluation of the student intern’s performance and attitude during the Internship so that the supervising professor can evaluate both field and academic components of the student intern’s work.
  • Provide a safe working environment that complies with any applicable employment laws, regulations / ordinances. I have read, understand and will abide by the site internship responsibilities described above.
  • Complete both the approval survey and final evaluation survey from Handshake.

Internship Final Evaluations

The last component to the internship process involves three sets of final evaluations. Much like the approval process, the site supervisor, faculty advisor, and student must complete a series of survey questions to submit through Handshake in that order. They will receive an email notification within five days of the internship end date.

Contact elcdc@albright.edu with any questions.