DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE |
Phone 360-650-3469 Fax 360-650-2800 http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~polsci |
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Intern Coordinator: |
Dr. Sara Weir |
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Office: |
AH 415A |
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Phone: |
360-650-2912 |
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Email: |
sara.weir@wwu.edu |
q To link academic learning of public administration, policy processes and other aspects of public life with practical work experience in a public (or private) agency. Interns are to complete tasks assigned by the agency and to learn about day-to-day administrative organization, procedures, and problems.
q To give students a chance to consider careers in public service or other areas of public life.
Qualifications of Student
q Completion of the core field requirements for the political science major (PLSC 250, PLSC 360, and PLSC 271 or PLSC 291)
q Completion of at least one advanced course in the field of study to which the internship most closely relates
q Acceptability to the agency.
Registration
Initial contact with the Intern Coordinator should usually be one quarter in advance of registration if the student is interested in a local internship. In the case of state and federal agencies, longer lead times are necessary, and contact with the Intern Coordinator should be at least two quarters in advance of registration.
Contact the Intern Coordinator for permission to register for PLSC 444 (3-15 credits). Credit may be divided over two quarters where the internship placement requires a commitment of more than 10 weeks. No more than 10 credits of internship and independent study, combined, may be counted toward the major.
Placement Information
After the intern has been with the agency for about a week, a placement information summary is submitted to the Intern Coordinator. This contains the following information:
q Description of expected assignments or duties
q Duration and working hours of the internship
q Office address and phone number of the intern
q Name, title, address and phone number of the intern's supervisor.
Submit your placement information summary using the on-line form on the department website at
http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/polsci/administrativeinternships/student_form.htm . You will receive a confirmation response after submitting the form on the web. Print a copy of the confirmation page to include in your internship portfolio at the end of the quarter.
Reflection Papers
Interns will write three short papers reflecting on aspects of the internship experience. The first two statements address questions posed below. The final reflective statement will be based on a question or idea developed by the intern. Details of the assignment include:
q Reflective responses should be one to three pages in length.
q They are due during the third, sixth, and final week of the internship.
q Submit reflection papers #1 and #2 as an e-mail or e-mail attachment to sara.weir.wwu.edu .
q Type PLSC 444 Reflection in the subject line of the e-mail
q Print a copy of your e-mail and the attachment to include in your internship portfolio.
q Reflection # 1 – “What surprises you most about the internship experience? How is it different than you expected based on what you have read or learned in the classroom?” (Due Week 3)
q Reflection #2 – “What is the most challenging aspect, positive or negative, of your internship placement?” (Due Week 6)
q Reflection #3 – You create the question or idea for the final reflective response. (Due with final portfolio)
Depending upon the nature of the intern's assignment with the agency, a project report or paper is submitted at the end of the quarter. Project reports are submitted in those cases where the intern has been responsible for the preparation of an agency report, a copy of which can be submitted to the instructor as evidence of the intern's report preparation skills. In those cases where the intern's assignments do not lend themselves to the submission of a substantial project report, a paper is required.
Papers are prepared in the format prescribed on Appendix 1 of this handout and in strict accord with the policy concerning plagiarism presented in Appendix 2.
The approach, topic, format, and length of the internship project report or paper is to be discussed with the Intern Coordinator no later than the fifth week of the quarter.
An evaluation of the intern's performance is prepared by the intern's supervisor and is either submitted on-line at http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/polsci/administrativeinternships/supervisor_form.htm, mailed directly to the Intern Coordinator, or is given to the intern by the supervisor for inclusion in the internship portfolio. An evaluation form for the supervisor is attached as the last page of this document (Appendix 4).
Intern's Evaluation of the Internship Experience
A brief evaluation of the internship experience is to be prepared by the intern and included as part of the internship portfolio in order to assist the instructor in considering whether the agency is appropriate for future placement of interns. This evaluation is treated as confidential by both the student and the instructor.
Internship Portfolio
An internship portfolio is due on the first day of finals week, unless another time is agreed to by the intern and the Intern Coordinator. The portfolio is an opportunity for you to bring together and show-case your internship experience. Although you may have submitted some of the required elements on-line earlier in the quarter, you are required to include copies of the following.
q Placement information.
q Three reflection papers.
q Project report or paper.
q Intern's evaluation of the internship experience.
q Samples of letters or other work produced during the internship.
q Other correspondence or articles the intern decides to include (optional).
q Name and address of the person writing the final intern evaluation.
The internship portfolio is to be bound in one notebook or contained in one large envelope with the student's name and WWU ID number, the Intern Coordinator's name, the course prefix and number, and the academic quarter and year in which the student is registered for the internship indicated clearly on the cover or the outside.
Please confer with the Intern Coordinator if you need to use an alternative format for the internship portfolio.
Part of the course grade will depend upon your careful adherence to the instructions contained in this document. The final grade will be based upon the academic requirements described above and the agency supervisor's evaluation (on an approximately 50-50 basis).
q Five credits for approximately 15 hours per week service with the agency, and 10 credits for approximately 30 hours per week.
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
q Frequent absence or lack of contact with the internship supervisor.
q Lack of feedback relative to the quality of the intern's performance.
q Hostility from other employees who receive less attention from the supervisor or who do not understand the intern's responsibilities.
q Appearance---some agencies may have an unwritten dress code.
If these or other problems develop, interns are to discuss the problem with their supervisor. If this does not result in correction of the problem, the Intern Coordinator should be contacted for further discussion of the matter.
Appendix 1
Include title, your name, WWU ID number, course number and title, term, and date.
The paper should be divided into chapters, sections, or parts in order to assist the reader in following the discussion or argument. The titles of the parts should be included in the table of contents with their page numbers. The bibliography page and the notes page, if any, should also be shown in the table of contents.
Documentation
The project report or paper must
include citations and a bibliography. No
specific form or style of documentation is required as long as it is consistent
and conventional. If you have questions
about documentation, check a manual of style or other guides to
documentation. Be sure to cite internet
sources as well as conventionally published works.
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Appendix 2
Unfortunately, it is necessary to warn students about the academic crime of plagiarism, the copying and use of someone else's ideas or expression of ideas as your own. Plagiarism is listed and defined more fully in Appendix D, ACADEMIC DISHONESTY POLICY AND PROCEDURE, of the current WWU Bulletin. The penalties for academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, are also described.
To avoid plagiarism or the appearance of plagiarism, the following rules are to be strictly observed.
q When you use two or more words, but less than two lines, from someone else's writing, enclose those words in quotation marks and use an identifying footnote or endnote in accordance with accepted style.
q If the quotation is longer than two lines, do not use quotation marks but indent the quoted material five spaces from the left margin and single space it, again using an appropriate footnote or endnote.
q Plagiarism applies to internet sources as well as traditionally published works.
q Merely changing occasional words or punctuation in order to make the material different from the source does not avoid plagiarism. Paraphrasing is permissible, but the source must be fully identified in an appropriate footnote or endnote.
Please let the instructor know before completion of a given assignment if you have questions concerning plagiarism and the techniques for giving appropriate credit to your sources.
Appendix 3
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2 quarters prior to registration |
Initial contact with the Intern Coordinator for state or federal agency internships |
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1 quarter prior to registration |
Initial contact with the Intern Coordinator for local internships |
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Registration |
Contact the Intern Coordinator for permission to register |
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2nd week of internship |
Submit work proposal (on-line) |
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3rd week of internship |
Submit reflection paper #1 |
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No later than 5th week of internship |
Discuss term paper with Intern Coordinator |
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6th week of internship |
Submit reflection paper #2 |
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First day of finals week |
Submit internship portfolio Supervisor’s evaluation of intern’s performance is due |
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCEBellingham WA 98225-9082 |
Phone 360-650-3469 Fax 360-650-2800 http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~polsci |
Appendix 4
Dear Intern Supervisor:
At the end of the internship we would appreciate your evaluation of the student's performance. You may complete the evaluation on-line at http://www.wwu.edu/depts/polsci/supervisor_eval_form.shtml. Or, you may complete this form, use your own agency evaluation form, or write a letter. To treat the evaluation as confidential, mail it directly to me at the Department of Political Science (see address at top of page). You may treat it as non-confidential and have the intern include it as part of his or her Internship Portfolio.
The University and the Department of Political Science appreciate your cooperation in providing the internship experience for our students.
Sara J. Weir, Ph.D.
Chair
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Intern’s Name _______________________________ |
Date ___________________________________ |
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Supervisor’s Name ___________________________ |
Agency ________________________________ |
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Superior |
High |
Average |
Low |
Failure |
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Completion of work on time |
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Quality of completed work |
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Initiative and independent thinking |
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Willingness to learn new tasks |
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Ability to establish contact with clients (if applicable) |
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Ability to establish contact with employees |
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Ability to communicate with supervisor |
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Comments:
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