Internship Policy

HUMAN RIGHTS JUNIOR INTERNSHIP POLICY[1]

Human rights Junior Internship program aims at enhancing students learning goals and objectives as well as the overall University mission. Human Rights concentration recognizes internship experiences as an integral part of a student’s preparation for his/her professional career. Junior internship is conceptualized as a structured opportunity for the students to learn, grow and contribute in a career-specific professional setting through enriching their skills and knowledge by practically applying the academic elements of their degrees. The general goals of the junior internship include the following:

Integrating theory and practice: Students receive experience in applying theories learned in the classroom to specific practical experiences and work world and develop in-depth understanding of particular areas of study.

Developing work skills: Gaining real world job training and developing work skills and characteristics prior to graduation.

Career exploration: Students eexplore one or more of career interests in a realistic professional setting. They make decisions about whether a particular career direction or industry is a good fit for them. They develop awareness of own strengths, values, interests which will enable students to better align their personal and professional directions.

Building professional networks: Develop professional relationships and networks that will be beneficial in the future for career building.

Effective citizenship: Students are able to demonstrate leadership skills such as goal setting, change management, ethical behaviour, and providing actionable feedback. Students should understand the need for continuously updating their professional skills after graduation and demonstrate learning effectively on their own.

INTERNSHIP PROCESS

Students should take Junior Internship during the summer for a period no less than one month (eight hours per day or 160 hours in total).
Students select an internship placement independently, Human Rights Concentration coordinators will provide list of NGOs working in the field of human rights that could be used by students as potential internship placements
Students submit Internship Placement Form (Appendix 1) to Human Rights profile coordinator/ supervisor for approval.
Students undertake internship and maintain Internship Diary/Daily Journal. Internship Diary/Daily Journal is a compilation of the students’ daily internship experiences, in which the students informally describe and discuss activities, ideas, impressions, etc., in relation to their learning experience. The format of the Internship Diary/Daily Journal is in (Appendix 2)
Students complete internship, obtain Field Supervisor’s Evaluation/Recommendation.
Students write up Internship Final Report, i.e., a more formal document which provides intellectual insights and reflections of their experiences in the light of the learning goals of the internship. Requirements for the structure and the content of the Internship Final Report are laid out in Appendix 4.
Students have to provide Research Paper upon the completion of the Internship. Specific guidelines on research paper will be provided for students further.
Students submit Reporting Package to their respective departments by uploading all scanned and electronic versions of documents to the e-course. Enrollment key and course name on the e-course will be provided for students during Spring semester prior starting the internship. The Reporting Package consists of the following documents:

Internship Placement Form/Form 1
Internship Diary/Daily Journal
Internship Final Report
Research Paper
Supervisor report/Recommendation letter

Program Director/Head of Department fills in Internship Checklist (Appendix 5) and assigns final grade.

IMPORTANT INTERNSHIP DEADLINES

There are number of strict deadlines that students need to follow to complete the internship course. Failure to meet those deadlines lead to deduction of points from the final grade of the course. Therefore, all students are encouraged to strictly follow the deadlines.

Submission of Internship Placement Form Deadline:

Students must submit Form 1 to HR Coordinator by following dates:

During last week of regular classes of Spring Semester students are required to bring their Form 1 for the approval. The Form 1 shall contain information about the placement and the signature of field supervisor. Failure to meet the deadline will lead to an automatic deduction of 20% of the final grade. Upon the coordinator`s approval (signature), the student will be allowed to start their Internship upon Completion of classes. If the advisor does not approve Form 1, within the period indicated by advisor, student shall secure another internship placement and submit the Form 1 for advisor’s approval before starting the Internship.

After receiving a signature and approval of the advisor, student must scan Form 1 and upload in PDF format to the AUCA e-course.

General deadline for submitting all Internship reporting Package:

The deadline for submission of all internship reporting package is September 5. Students shall upload all package documents to the e-course system. For each day of delay of submission of the report a penalty of minus 10 percent of the final (Internship) grade will apply (this rule includes calendar days).

INTERNSHIP EVALUATION

Evaluation of internship will be comprised of the following:

Internship placement form- 10%
Internship Daily Journals- 20%
Internship Final Report – 30% of grade
Internship Research paper- 40%

INTERNSHIP GRADING SYSTEM

Upon the completion of the Junior Internship students will given the final grade based on following grading percentage:

A 94-100%	C+ 74-76%	D- 50-53%
A- 90-93%	C 68-73%	F below 50%
B+ 86-89%	C- 64-67%
B 80-85%	D+ 60-63%
B- 77-79%	D 54-59%

INTERNSHIP REPORT OUTLINE

Cover Page
Table of Contents
Type of organization: Name, location, objectives, structure, history, company policies, philosophy, etc. Why did you choose this organization?
The work assignment: Describe the internship position within the company. Discuss your duties and responsibilities, your daily, weekly, monthly tasks. What were resources provided to you to accomplish your assignment, working conditions, general atmosphere, co-workers and supervision? Describe the projects you were involved in and how you were involved.
Value of experience to learning goals: What strengths of knowledge, skills, and experience did you bring to the internship? What were the knowledge and skills required for job? How did your internship experience relate to your current studies? Which (and how) university courses prepared you for internship assignment? How did you apply theories and concepts learned in your previous coursework to your internship? Please, give examples from any of your courses. What new learning occurred and how might it serve you in the future?
Feedback and Reflection: How did the internship experience relate to your personal, professional, and educational goals? What were some of the difficulties you encountered? How did you deal with them? Who did you seek advice from? How did it influence your perspective on your future studies and development? How prepared do you feel for this future? What was your overall evaluation of the internship? How has your internship experience influenced your professional direction and career goals? Were you able to build positive professional relationships and take advantage of networking opportunities? What recommendations would you give to improve the internship experience and make it more meaningful? What can you do to make it so? What can the organization do to make it so? What can university do to make it so?