Public Affairs 4191.02: Student Internship in Public Affairs (WAIP)

1. Substantive work experience and understanding how to meet expectations in the workplace-students will gain substantive professional experience that will equip them with tangible skills. Student success will be monitored by the work plan completed at the beginning of the semester with their supervisor, which will identify skills to develop throughout the experience as well as professional goals. Students will complete a mid-point and final review of this document with their supervisor, and the student and supervisor will submit documents for each touch point reflecting on growth and development.
2.  Professional development- students will develop professional skills and be able to confidently communicate professional goals, transferable skills, and function in professional settings. Students will accomplish this by networking and engaging in PDWs and study tours.

Internship: 50% of Grade

• Work Plan: 5%
• Mid-Semester Check-in: 5%
• Final Self-Evaluation: 10%
• Supervisor Evaluation: 25%
• Internship Presentation: 5%

Participation and Engagement: 30% of Grade

• Attendance, dress, professionalism during PDWs and Study Tours: 15%
• Weekly discussion post and engagement/quality of participation during events: 15%

Mentorship and Networking: 15% of Grade

• Mentor Meetings (4 throughout the semester): 10%
• Informational Interviews (3 throughout the semester + networking prospect list): 5%

Weekly Lead Duties: 5% of grade

Work-plan (5%): Each student, in consultation with their internship supervisor, develops a work-plan that outlines goals and expectations and methods of evaluation at the internship site. This serves as a contract among the student, our program, and the field placement. It also lists the hours and contact information of the student during their workday. Students should use this assignment as an opportunity to have an open line of communication with their supervisor to understand expectations, their role in the office, how their supervisor prefers them to check-in and details of the program calendar. Together, the student and their supervisor will agree on 5 goals and/or objectives for this internship, which will be revisited at the mid-point check-in and final evaluation. This is due Friday, September 20th, and will be uploaded to Carmen. The clarity and professionalism of this document will determine your grade and will count for 5% of your final grade for the internship course.

Mid-Point Check-In (5%): Students will schedule a touch base meeting with their supervisor mid-way through the semester, allowing them to revisit the workplan and assess the student’s progress and goals. Students will also do a mid-point check-in, reflecting on the meeting with their supervisor and assessing their overall WAIP progress. There are two deliverables: a midpoint check-in submitted by the supervisor, and a mid-point check-in submitted by the student. Mid-point check-in must be completed and submitted no later than Friday, October 25th. The supervisor feedback, as well as the student mid-point self-evaluation, constitutes 5% of the final grade for the internship course. Grades assigned based on quality of supervisor feedback, as well as thoughtfulness and demonstrated growth in student self-evaluation.

Final Evaluation (35%): Students will schedule a final evaluation meeting with their supervisor, during which they will review the workplan and reflect on the internship semester. Students will also complete a final evaluation of themselves and assess their WAIP semester. There are two deliverables: a final evaluation submitted by the supervisor due Wednesday, December 4th and a final self-evaluation submitted by the student due Thursday, December 5th. The supervisor feedback, as well as the student final self-evaluation, constitutes 35% of the final grade for the internship course. Grades assigned based on quality of supervisor feedback, as well as thoughtfulness and demonstrated growth in student self-evaluation.

Internship Presentation (5%): Due Monday, December 2nd. For your final presentation you will create a PowerPoint or Prezi marketing your internship. The objective of this presentation is to give a clear explanation of the organization or office you work for, their work environment, and your day-to-day duties. For this final presentation you will want to create a PowerPoint or slide show explaining your internship as if you are presenting it to incoming WAIP students, 10 minutes max. You will present in person to the class and take questions.

This presentation should be around 7-10 minutes long and should include:

• What the application and interviewing process was like
• The work environment of your office
• Your day-to-day tasks
• NACE Core Competencies you used
• Answer questions from your peers during the presentation

WAIP is a highly experiential program- we often say students get out of it what they put into it. Your participation and engagement in the program are a substantial part of your grade. Two main components fall into this part of your grade- weekly discussion post and your engagement during the synchronous components of the course, such as PDWs and study tours. The two components (discussion posts and engagement during synchronous meetings) outlined below.

• Discussion posts: There is one weekly discussion post- due Sunday by 11:59pm. After doing the pre-work for the week, or the ‘Getting Information & Ideas’ section on Carmen. This post will include your thoughts on that week’s PDW and your questions for the next week. In other words, what do you want to get out of this week’s activities? What do you hope to learn? What are you curious about and why? Was there something in a speaker’s background you hope to know more about? Remember- it is the responsibility of every cohort member to submit well-researched, well thought out questions for this post as it sets the weekly leads up to develop a quality facilitation plan.
• Synchronous meetings: WAIP will meet every Wednesday (typically 6:30-8pm) and Friday synchronously via Zoom or in-person. On Wednesdays, students will have their Professional Development Workshop (PDW), which may be a professional activity or panel of alumni (information for the weekly PDW can always be found in the ‘Start Here’ section on Carmen). On Fridays, students will engage in their weekly ‘Connect & Reflect,’ where we come together as a cohort to talk about our experiences, what we are learning, where we need support and how we are growing. Fridays will also typically feature a study tour, providing students with an ‘Inside Washington’ perspective. Students will be graded on their professionalism, punctuality, attendance and adherence to the online community standards (provided at orientation).

Students will be assigned an alumni mentor, who they will meet with 4 times throughout the semester (meeting dates and details below). Mentor meetings will be 10% of the total grade.

• Friday, September 20th: 1st mentor meeting completed (objective- get to know each other, ask for feedback on work plan). A short reflection will be submitted via Carmen by the student. Note- if you accomplish this at the mentor mixer, you may count that as your first meeting (though some students and mentors may prefer to meet one-on-one, in addition to the mixer).  
•  Friday, October 18th: 2nd mentor meeting completed (objective- ask mentor to introduce you to an informational interview contact and go over mid-point evaluation plan.
• Friday, November 15th: 3rd mentor meeting completed (objective- go over résumé and ask for additional informational interview contacts).
•  Friday, December 5th: 4th mentor meeting completed (objective- review semester and final evaluation plan).  

Students will develop a professional network in Washington, DC. To help accomplish this goal, structured networking is built into this course. Note- sometimes networking activities will overlap with other support systems within the course, such as the mentor or internship supervisor. There are 3 networking activities (deadlines and details below). Networking activities will be 5% of the total grade.

1. Friday September 27th: Informational interview #1 completed. A short reflection will be submitted via Carmen. Ask your mentor or WAIP staff for help if you need additional contact ideas.
2. Friday November 1st: Informational Interview #2 completed. A short reflection will be submitted via Carmen. This may be with someone from work or someone outside your organization you would like to speak with.
3. Friday December 6th: Informational Interview #3 completed. A short reflection will be submitted via Carmen.

Each week, three students will be designated ‘weekly leads,’ meaning they oversee introducing speakers/guests at the PDW and study tour and moderating/facilitating these events. Weekly leads will create a facilitation plan (template found on Carmen) based on the cohort questions and perspectives found in the weekly discussion post. Weekly leads are also responsible for drafting handwritten thank-you notes and getting the rest of the cohort to sign. It is incredibly important that students take the weekly lead role seriously they are representing the Glenn College and leading the cohort and their learning.

Why do we have weekly leads? To put Glenn Fellows in the driver’s seat. Weekly leads oversee leading the cohort and their learning, and responsible for making the PDW and study tour a positive experience for both their peers and the guest(s). This will allow students to develop their leadership, planning, collaboration, and public speaking skills.