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Internships Vital to Success at University of Montana

For most University of Montana students, having an internship over the course of their college career is recommended, if not required.

Internship Services http://www.umt.edu/internships/ Director Terry Berkhouse said different UM schools and academic departments decide their own internship requirements, but one idea is constant – an internship is necessary.

Story by Ashley Zuelke
Montana Kaimin

“More and more employers are looking for work experience in the (student’s) major,” Berkhouse said.

Every year, Berkhouse said, between 600 and 700 UM students do internships.

But some internships, on and off campus, aren’t overseen by the typical employer, some are supervised by other students.

Usually, students must submit a learning agreement for approval before beginning an internship. And, aside from department requirements, two student internship evaluations and supervisor evaluation, the options for an internship are relatively open.

When asked if students should be internship advisers for other students, Berkhouse said, “Probably not.”

ASUM Office Manager Carol Hayes said ASUM has hired student interns in the past, and the ASUM president, a student, was the internship supervisor.

Two student ad representatives at the Kaimin Business Office are using their work experience for marketing internships through the business school.

Business Manager John Cribb, a senior business management major, supervises the interns and said he doesn’t see a problem.

“As long as it (the internship) is not something a student needs for graduation, it’s fine,” Cribb said.

Business students don’t have to have an internship, but “it (an internship) is certainly recommended,” said Rob VanDriest, who directs internship programs in the business school.

Other disciplines, like journalism and environmental studies, have an internship built into their major.

The fact that Cribb is a student advising student interns doesn’t make a difference in the internship experience, he said.

Cribb, and other student managers, recommend a grade to the internship supervisor, who then evaluates the intern’s performance and grades accordingly.

Business interns, VanDriest said, must work 50 hours per credit per semester, and their job descriptions must match the major. Interns must also submit a number of writing assignments about the internship for grading.

A student fully supervising another student intern is rare, but in some circumstances student interns advise other students on a daily basis.

Jamee Greer, a junior majoring in sociology and gender studies, is the Missoula coordinator of Forward Montana, a local progressive political action group. He supervises a couple of interns, but reports to Forward Montana’s director.

For Greer, being a student advising other students works out.

“It kind of places both me and the interns in an interesting position,” he said. But, with Forward Montana’s emphasis on many student issues, “It makes sense to me to have students do it (the internship supervising).”

Junior Veronica Asmus, a communication studies major, is interning for Greer while working on Forward Montana’s “Pink Bunny” campaign.

Asmus said she enjoys the youth dynamic of the internship. She said she’s had other jobs where there’s been a loss of respect after she’s become friends with her boss, but that’s not the current case.

“We get our business done,” she said.

A couple of years ago, UM started tightening internship credit standards so no more than six credits for internships could count toward the 120 needed to graduate.

VanDriest said the rule was instituted to have a uniform policy and more control over UM internships.

Journalism professor Dennis Swibold said the School of Journalism is “pretty picky” about what work qualifies as an internship, and the program has become “more rigorous” in the past few years.

Swibold said internships must be at news organizations that can give students feedback as well as supervise and teach students.

More than ten years ago, a Kaimin reporter could receive internship credit, but the school decided students couldn’t intern at student publications.

Even with the pressure to get an internship, Berkhouse said a student who is determined to get one needs a “quality” resume and a lot of persistence to have a good chance.

But environmental studies director Len Broberg said even with more than 120 students in the program, environmental studies internships can be found.

“I can’t think of a single instance where we haven’t found an internship for a student,” he said.

http://www.montanakaimin.com/index.php/news/news_article/student_interns_supervised_by_peers/

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