Course: Internship, CS394

Instructor: Patrick Bailey

Course Description: During a minimum period of 10 weeks, Interns will work 10-20 hours per week in a local business or non-profit organization under the supervision of a computing professional for a minimum of 100 total hours. The internship experience will give students the opportunity to apply skills and concepts acquired in the classroom to a real-world setting and to participate in the design and/or implementation of a significant computing application. Prerequisite: 262 and senior standing or permission of the instructor.

Approach: Students should have made arrangements with Calvin’s Career Development center to find an internship position. You are encouraged to explore any opportunity strongly related to your major. At the completion of the internship, the student should be able to do the following:

• Be able to write an appropriate resume
• Be comfortable in presenting oneself to an employer during an interview
• Be able to explain the appropriate expectations in dress and behavior in the work place
• Be able to self-critique to improve future opportunities
• Be able to explain the importance of nurturing working relationships with others

Successful completion of the internship requires the following:

• Putting forth your best effort for your employer.
• Meeting with the instructor twice during the internship
• Completing a weekly journal and accounting for your time.
• An evaluation from your employer expressing satisfaction with your work.
• Attending an internship discussion at the end of the semester.

Approval of an internship requires that you complete the forms for the internship agreement and the goals or working duties established for you. For approvable internships, see http://cs.calvin.edu/curriculum/cs/394/ You must also ensure that the appropriate forms for the career development office are signed by the employer.

An internship has two goals. The first is to provide you direct hands-on experience to nurture the skills you have developed over your college career. The second is to place you in the role as an observer. You should take time to discern how the world works by observing how the organization you are in operates. That is the purpose to the maintaining a journal.

*Grading: Your grade is based on the areas below. Some of these areas are very subjective, but in your heart you will know if you are doing well. Alternative assignments may be provided if the internship is considered a competitive position (e.g. Microsoft or IBM internship program working 40 hours a week in the summer), but this must be negotiated with the instructor prior to the internship.

Area Evaluated	Points Available
Job search activities	100
Favorable employer evaluation and verification of time requirements	200
Essay/group discussion on Christian perspectives of internship	100
Three journal entries	150
Three meetings with instructor to include first week of the semester.	50
Total	600

Grade letter assignments are as follows: A = 93% B = 83% C = 73% D = 60%

“His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” Mark 25:19-20

Specifics on Requirements and Options

Job Search Activities: In addition to preparing a resume and going to job interviews, there are also administrative requirements needed by Calvin College. Your 100 points in this area is based on the following:

Resume Preparation (25 points): One of the services offered by Calvin is assistance in preparing a professional resume. Even if you have already obtained a position, part of the course is intended to provide you feedback on resume preparation. You must submit your resume to career development for feedback and provide a completed copy to the instructor.

Student Agreement Form and Goals Form (75 points): While this sounds highly administrative, it is critical that you complete these forms prior to starting your internship.

Favorable Employer Evaluation: You must submit an original copy (not in an email, not in a .PDF file etc) of the evaluation from your employer. It must be favorable to receive the full points for this area. A copy of the evaluation form is available on Knightvision. Encourage your employer to comment on how well you met the original goals discussed.

Group Discussion: At the end of the semester, you must attend one of the scheduled wrap-up meetings to discuss your internship. This is done with other interns to gain an appreciation of the varied experiences. Often you will find common threads among the other experiences as well as discovering what may have been unique about yours. To prepare for that meeting, you are to write a short summary that answers the following questions:

• What is the mission of the company and how does your internship contribute?
• What are the technologies you use in your internship?
• Who are the people that you interact with on a regular basis? How critical is the relationship to your success on the internship?
• What do you see done exceptionally well that you would try to duplicate in your career?
• What practices do you believe could be improved?
• What is the impact of the work environment on your faith, and what is the impact of your faith in your work?

Job Search: The goal of this is to obtain a position that is suitable for your major. To obtain the points for this, you must have secured a position. The internship coordinator is available by appointment to assist you in developing a resume for your job search. Further, you should visit the Career Development Office at Calvin to let them know you are searching for an internship (http://www.calvin.edu/admin/career/internships.htm ) It is understood that some people will have already secured a position through other means. In that event, you should prepare an updated resume at the end of the internship and submit that for the credit needed.

Within a week of starting the internship, you must have submitted a job description or list of objectives prepared and signed by the employer.

Until you have secured a position, you must provide a weekly update to the internship coordinator about your progress.

Reflective Analysis: Students will generally prepare a reflective write-up during their first week, fifth and last week of the internship. Here are the requirements for the journal entries:

· All Journals: Each must summarize the number of hours worked for the period covered by the journal.

· First Week: For this journal entry, reflect on what you have experienced initially on the job. Discuss in detail the following:

o The steps you followed to obtain the job.

o The interview process. Was it fair? Were you prepared? What did you learn from it?

o The mission of your employer’s organization.

o How does your job fit in with the big picture for your employer?

o What are some lingering questions you have about expectations?

· Fifth Week: By this time, you should have invested at least 50 hours into your internship. Reflect on the following:

o Does the initial job description match what you are doing?

o What have you accomplished so far?

o What tools are you using on the job and what is your opinion of them?

o Describe how the work place impacts your faith.

o Who are the people you interact with on a daily, weekly or infrequent basis and why?

· Final Entry: In this submission, reflect on your and the employer’s original goals for the internship. Then discuss if they were met. Also consider the following:

o If you were the manager, what would you have done differently?

o How has the internship influenced your future career choices?

o Again, what is the relationship you observed between the dynamics of the work place and your personal faith?