Introduction
Definition of Internship
Arrange Internship Positions
Help Identify Low-cost Housing
Social/Cultural Support
Introduction
MSU International Alumni Clubs are partnered with the MSU Alumni Association in the establishment of academic internship opportunities for MSU students in locations abroad. Upon graduation, many international students return to their home countries, and become leaders in government, education, industry, and non-profit organizations. Some American students relocate abroad. Many of these individuals are members of international alumni clubs. Their bonds of loyalty to their alma mater are impressive. A primary means of contact with MSU is their alumni club. Through their current positions and network contacts, these individuals have great potential to establish and arrange experiential learning opportunities for MSU students. International alumni can provide three forms of assistance:
- Arrange internship positions commensurate with MSU’s academic guidelines, and with student interests and skills.
- Help students find low-cost housing.
- Give students social/cultural support in adjusting to a foreign setting.
Definition of Internship
An MSU Alumni International Academic Internship is an educational process that occurs in an international setting and requires continued interaction between the student, internship coordinator/faculty member, MSU International Alumni Club, site supervisor, and MSU. The internship is an experiential learning activity in which the student accepts a large share of the responsibility for learning. The internship organization involves the student as a functional member of its system and works with the student and MSU to provide a worthwhile professional learning experience. Likewise, MSU is responsible for coordinating the learning activity as an integral part of the student’s total program of professional development. The components of international academic internships are:
- Experiential – International learning activity where professional tasks are the major vehicle for student learning.
- Partnership - Faculty, Students, MSU Alumni, Site-Supervisor and Institutions share responsibilities for developing and managing the cultural and professional experience.
- Cross-cultural - History, traditions and values of another culture are learned through reflection and regular interactions with residents of the host country.
- Professional - Knowledge, skills and concepts acquired through reflection, work tasks and activities required by the host organization.
- Student - An individual enrolled in an international internship course, who takes responsibility for his or her learning and is fully immersed in the activities of the host culture and host organization.
- Faculty/staff - The individuals in the academic institution responsible for managing the academic-organizational partnership and supervising and evaluating academic activities.
- Site-Supervisor - An experienced professional who represents the host organization and provides cultural and professional guidance.
- Respective Institutions - Both MSU and the host organization that enable the internship partnership to operate.
Arrange Internship Positions
Through work and personal contacts, many international alumni will be aware of, and have access to, internship opportunities. Whether student skills are utilized in an office setting, as community service workers, as lab assistants, as researchers, or as teachers, student interns are an invaluable source of energy, enthusiasm, new ideas, and informed advice. In so working, students extend their education, broaden their experience and thinking, learn intercultural communications skills, and develop professional skills that will set them apart from those whose education is pursued entirely in American settings. This kind of win/win relationship between students and internship organizations generates goodwill and positive relationships, with benefits flowing in both directions.
It is crucial that MSU students undertaking academically-credited internships be utilized in substantial capacities, where their skills and education can be enhanced, and their education furthered. While different academic units on campus have different ways of evaluating student performance and awarding credit, we must ensure that our students have opportunities to extend their learning in significant ways. In other words, student interns are not simply cheap or unpaid laborers available for unskilled work. Any internship opportunity must be evaluated, both by those making on-site arrangements and by the relevant internship coordinators on campus, in terms of the learning potential it presents.
The length of the internship, and the hours a student works, can vary considerably. Most MSU students undertaking international internships through this program will be available for full-time work during the period of the internship. The length of internship might range from 4 weeks to 4 months (or even up to a year), depending on the availability (and interests) of the student and the needs of the internship organization. This can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. Also relevant will be the guidelines of the College or Departmental internship program in which the student is enrolled.
In order to maximize the learning potential of the internship, it is important that students work under professional supervision. The role of the supervisor is like that with any employee – to offer constructive suggestions and instructions in order that the assignment be completed to the quality standards of the organization, to foster professional relationships with others in the office such that the student has opportunities to learn about the work of the organization as a whole and to guide the student in the development of professional skills. Students assigned self-directed "special projects," and then left to their own devices, will often flounder. Quality supervision is necessary to ensure the quality of the internship experience.
Non-English language skills will vary considerably among MSU students, and the language requirements of the internship organization will also vary. Attention need be paid to the language of the workplace, and to the ability of non-native speakers to function in it. Some countries in which English is not a typical working language will have settings in which English-language skills are prized, and in which MSU students can function without fluency in the local language(s). Others will require full fluency in the local language(s). This will be a central factor in determining the suitability of a MSU student intern for any particular internship opportunity.
The question of salary is best resolved by reference to the work visa requirements of the country involved. Because of the difficulties created by visa requirements, and because of our desire not to displace local workers, most internships secured through this program will not be paid. However, there may be ways that local hosts and organizations can help to defray associated costs. These might involve subsidized housing, transportation costs, and/or food expenses. While the value of the internship lies principally in the learning opportunities it presents, it is important to recognize that relocating abroad entails substantial costs to the student. Any means by which costs can be minimized will make this a more attractive opportunity for students.
To identify an internship opportunity, and match an MSU student to that opportunity, these steps should be followed:
- Speak to appropriate authorities in your own workplace, or to contacts of your own in other settings, to determine their interest in hosting an MSU intern.
- Secure a written position description, and share that with the MSU Alumni Association contact, and through that person with internship coordinators on campus. If alterations are necessary to meet the relevant internship standards, speak with the potential internship organization to ensure their compliance.
- Position descriptions can be posted on the MSU Alumni Association International Academic Internship web-page, to advertise their availability to MSU students.
- There may be occasions when you are approached by the MSU Alumni Association about a particular student with an interest in internships in your location, and you might be asked to help identify appropriate placement organizations for that student. On those occasions, please canvass your contacts in professions of relevance to that student’s interests, to begin the above process in relation to that student.
- Once interested students and internship organizations have been identified, secure resumes, statements of interest, and any other relevant information (reference letters, transcripts, or writing samples, if requested by the internship organization). Your on-campus contacts will work with you to gather and forward this material. Share this with the internship organization, to ensure a good fit between student qualifications and interests, and the available work.
- Once a student has been placed and is working, you may be called on to maintain contact with the student and his/her supervisor, to ensure that the internship is proceeding to the satisfaction of all concerned. As the on-site contact you may be called on, in consultation with MSU internship coordinators, the MSU Alumni Association, internship supervisors, and student interns, to help resolve difficult situations.
- Evaluation Process
Help Identify Low-cost Housing
One of the most intimidating obstacles for a student going to a foreign setting is getting an answer to the question "where will I live?" As such arrangements are often difficult for a student to make from East Lansing in a location with which he/she is unfamiliar, you will be called on to help facilitate this process. Often, students are able to stay in local university or college dormitories, especially during the summer months when they are not being utilized by local students. There may be local student hostels, or similar low-cost accommodation. You might know people in the area willing to rent rooms or suites in their homes. You might simply forward local want ads, or similar listings of available housing. As many MSU student interns will be operating on limited budgets, access to cooking facilities will be an important plus.
As important as the simple availability of accommodation will be the question of quality. Draw on your own experiences of East Lansing to judge the quality of accommodation to which MSU students tend to be accustomed, and try to make a judgment about minimum standards. Most students willing to undertake internships abroad understand that housing standards vary considerably around the world, and will be willing to make adjustments. But sub-standard housing is also one of those factors that can ruin an otherwise wonderful internship opportunity. You may be called on to visit the arranged housing prior to the student’s arrival, to forward any information you think relevant about what they can expect.
Social/Cultural Support
The living/working experiences of many MSU students are limited to the United States, and for many of them to mid-Michigan. Others have had extensive experience traveling and/or living abroad. Students applying for participation in this program are screened by the MSU Alumni Association, the MSU Office of Study Abroad, and College internship coordinators for their adaptability to the cultures and conditions they are likely to encounter. But even the best-prepared and most adaptable students can experience culture shock upon finding themselves in unfamiliar surroundings.
As the on-site contact, we will ask you to meet with the student upon or shortly after his/her arrival, to help orient him/her to local geography, transportation, shopping, and recreation, and to facilitate contact between the student and local people (and their customs). This might be as simple as hosting a dinner in your home, or accompanying the student on a visit to a local cultural celebration. It might also mean making yourself available as an ongoing contact, to whom the student can refer with questions or when looking for advice. The amount of contact you have with the student intern, and the level of support you offer, can be worked out on a case-by-case basis. But making yourself available in some capacity in this regard will be crucial in ensuring that students neither are crushed by culture shock, nor disappear into ghettos of American expatriates. Encountering cultural differences, learning how to negotiate those differences and learn from them, and coming to be inquisitive about the culturally unfamiliar, are crucial markers of a successful international internship. Any support you can provide to help students in these directions will be an invaluable part of the experience.
