Business and Non-Profit Management Program Internship

All BNP majors must complete an internship and Field Experience Seminar as a part of the requirements for the major. The BNP internship is an individual experiential learning program structured through an organizational setting. This study is project-oriented, merging theory learned in the classroom with the workplace environment.

Your internship requirement can be accomplished in one of three ways:

· Participating in the GLCA Philadelphia program for a semester,

· Participating in the GLCA New York Arts program for a semester (requires an arts management focus)

or

· Completing an approved summer internship followed by taking BNP’s Field Experience Seminar in the fall.

We believe completing an internship is an integral part of your Earlham education. It offers you opportunities for:

· EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION designed to provide you with the opportunity to gain practical experience in a professional work environment while extending the classroom into the workplace

· FACULTY SUPERVISION and assessment of your learning experience 

· APPLIED LEARNING in marketing, management, accounting, finance, economics, etc. 

· NETWORKING potential for professional contacts 

· TRANSITIONAL STEP between academic setting and the requirements of professional practice 

· CAREER EXPLORATION and opportunities to clarify lifework goals

Eligibility

· Successful completion of Management 100, Management 200, and Management 101/103.

· Approval of the internship by the BNP program committee.  The Earlham College Petition for Internship Form (which can be found in the Registrar’s Office and the Career Development Center) must be completed and approved one-month prior to the end of spring semester.

Planning the Internship

It is your responsibility to locate an appropriate internship site and make arrangements for working within an organization. The opportunity can be a paid position and does not necessarily have to be called an “internship” in order for it to meet BNP’s criteria. You should seek help in locating a suitable position from the Internship Coordinator in The Service Learning and Career Development Center, the BNP faculty and any other resources at your disposal. If you wish to make application for an internship in the location of already existing employment, convincing evidence must be presented that the internship moves the experience beyond normal duties into new and educationally profitable areas.

Once the internship site has been determined, agreement should be made regarding the work to be completed during the internship experience. Interns will work under the direction of a supervisor/mentor, usually a professional staff member at the internship site who will complete a written evaluation of the individual's performance.

Internship Requirements

· Internships must relate and extend previous coursework.  The internship must be a LEARNING experience with measurable academic objectives, rather than primarily a work experience.

· Your internship site should afford you:

¨ Access to multiple areas of the organization

¨ Financial and budgetary information or alternative quantitative information

¨ Exposure to decision making processes

¨ Information on the organizational structure

¨ Knowledge of operations

· You must enroll in Field Experience Seminar the fall following your internship or participate in the GLCA Philadelphia Program or the GLCA New York Arts Program.

· You should work at your internship site at least 130 hours in a four-month period.

Field Experience Seminar Preparation Requirements

· Complete weekly journal entries in your Internship Journal (see attached guidelines).

· Write a draft of your Internship Analysis (see attached guidelines).

· Make sure your internship supervisor completes an evaluation of your work prior to the end of the internship. Evaluations should be sent to the Field Experience Seminar professor prior to the beginning of fall semester.

· At the end of your internship, complete your self-evaluation and send it to your Field Experience Seminar professor prior to the beginning of fall semester.