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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Hiatt offers internship help
Letters to the Editor | 9/11/07
Posted online at 8:30 PM EST on 9/10/07
/ Last updated at 12:32 AM EST on 9/10/07
To the Editor:
Hannah Edber's article "Museum internship makes promises, sinks" (Aug. 28 issue) makes my own heart sink. I felt nothing but compassion for Ms. Edber as I was reading her story but could not help but think how we could have changed the situation if only Ms. Edber had asked for help.
Believe it or not, the University has plenty of mechanisms to prevent students getting stuck in unchallenging internships where they are receiving little valuable experience. This support is coming both from the faculty side, through the Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences and Jessica Paquin, the academic-internships administrator and from the Hiatt Career Center in my role as the assistant director of experiential programs.
Edber could have found a credit-bearing internship class, where she would have had a faculty mentor, or could have enrolled in the Transcript Notation Program, where a noncredit internship would still appear on her Brandeis transcript. In either case, students and supervisors agree on a Learning Agreement: a set of common goals during the course of the experience, including specific strategies to accomplish those goals.
Because the internship is connected to Brandeis academics-whether through credit or notation-Brandeis administrators are prepared to advocate on the students' behalf and ensure that interns are getting the most out of their experiential learning, including calling the supervisor and reminding them about the Learning Agreement.
Though it doesn't make me less disappointed that Edber had a bad experience, there is no reason why other students should undergo the same fate. Read up on your options at our new Internships Portal at www.brandeis.edu/internships and make sure that the University knows where you are interning. Finally, don't be afraid to ask for help from here: We'll be glad to give it.
-Rusmir Musi?,
The writer is the assistant director of?experiential programs at the Hiatt Career Center.
Hannah Edber's article "Museum internship makes promises, sinks" (Aug. 28 issue) makes my own heart sink. I felt nothing but compassion for Ms. Edber as I was reading her story but could not help but think how we could have changed the situation if only Ms. Edber had asked for help.
Believe it or not, the University has plenty of mechanisms to prevent students getting stuck in unchallenging internships where they are receiving little valuable experience. This support is coming both from the faculty side, through the Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences and Jessica Paquin, the academic-internships administrator and from the Hiatt Career Center in my role as the assistant director of experiential programs.
Edber could have found a credit-bearing internship class, where she would have had a faculty mentor, or could have enrolled in the Transcript Notation Program, where a noncredit internship would still appear on her Brandeis transcript. In either case, students and supervisors agree on a Learning Agreement: a set of common goals during the course of the experience, including specific strategies to accomplish those goals.
Because the internship is connected to Brandeis academics-whether through credit or notation-Brandeis administrators are prepared to advocate on the students' behalf and ensure that interns are getting the most out of their experiential learning, including calling the supervisor and reminding them about the Learning Agreement.
Though it doesn't make me less disappointed that Edber had a bad experience, there is no reason why other students should undergo the same fate. Read up on your options at our new Internships Portal at www.brandeis.edu/internships and make sure that the University knows where you are interning. Finally, don't be afraid to ask for help from here: We'll be glad to give it.
-Rusmir Musi?,
The writer is the assistant director of?experiential programs at the Hiatt Career Center.
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