SLN Internship Program

SLN/UAlbany CDIT Internship Program

The SUNY Albany department of Education Theory and Practice (ETAP) has approached us with the idea of creating a partnership to offer their The Master of Science in Curriculum Development and Instructional Technology (CDIT) program students a 3-credit internship opportunity with the SUNY Learning Network (SLN). ETAP’s objective is enhance the appeal of their CDIT program with an opportunity to complete an internship at SLN, a well-known, award-winning, internationally respected online teaching and learning program. The CDIT program becomes more attractive to their current and prospective students when the program can offer them an opportunity to apply theoretical skills in the real world. An internship at SLN with the education team would have significant appeal from the student perspective. This includes an opportunity to demonstrate to potential future employers that they have experience in the support of online faculty in higher education, a common pre-requisite for positions in the field.

Logistics:

Internship: 3-credits in the CDIT program.

*Hours/timeframe/location:*10 hours per week, with one day in the SLN office on the UAlbany semester calendar, August – December and January – May. 

Process:
-Short term: interns are nominated by UAlbany for participation in the program.
-Long term: a more competitive program can be developed where SLN develops specific objectives based on current SLN education needs where Interns apply for specific internship projects.

SLN internship program admin and mentor (supervisor): Dan Feinberg, with Rob and Alex back up.

Physical location: Francisca’s cube in the SLN office.

UAlbany contact: Peter Shea is the UAlbany internship admin and advisor and SLN program liaison.

The intern will:

1. Propose the learning objectives for the internship
2. Be required to keep an internship reflections blog documenting experiences and learning, and
3. Produce a final written report on lessons learned from the internship experience.
4. Provide suggestions to improve the internship program for SLN.
5. Produce a comment about the internship experience for the SLN internship webpage. 
   

Metrics for UAlbany’s success of the internship program will be:

1. The intern’s self-assessment and written report.
2. SLN’s report and satisfaction with the intern.
3. Increased interest in the program due to the internship opportunity (applicant self reports; increase in applications)
4. Interns report greater success in getting interviews and/or getting hired due to completion of internship (intern self report)
   

Metrics for SLN’s success of the internship program will be:

1. Intern’s contribution to the education team.
2. Enhanced productivity of SLN education team (additional useful work is completed)
3. Increased ability to serve the needs of the campuses (because work is completed more efficiently or additional services can be provided, e.g. course reviews etc.)
4. Intern’s, UAlbany, and staff satisfaction with the program.
5. Ease of supervision of the intern.

The proposed internship benefits CDIT, SLN, and the intern in several ways:

Benefits:

Benefit to UAlabany

• Enhances attractiveness of UA academic programs.
• Increases the usefulness of the academic program.
• Helps the department maintain and grow enrollments.
• Creates a pool of more competitive applicants to the program.
• Keeps the program relevant in the face of changing teacher certification requirements.

Benefit to Students:

• Provides a bridge between theory and practice, creating a significant opportunity to apply what they have learned in their program.
• Provides the opportunity to gain practical experience in the real world.
• Results in experience that can assist students with their employability after graduation.

Benefit to SLN:

• Access to a resource for entry-level work, freeing professional staff for higher-level work and projects. 
• We assist in the development of a cadre of graduates ready to for the entry-level workforce in ID positions (in SLN and SUNY wide).
• Gives us the opportunity to offer entry-level supervision and program management experiences to internal staff.
• Gives us the ability to enhance our services to campuses, by for example, providing us with an additional resource that can create instructional captivate and written documentation, or participate in QM/course reviews.
  

 Preferred Qualifications:

1. experience teaching
2. experience training
3. interest in online teaching and training
4. interest in online instructional design
5. completed ETAP 640 - introduction to online teaching

SLN Internship Program Overview

The SLN/UAlbany Education Department Internship program’s mission is to

1. Provide graduate students from the UAlbany CDIT program the opportunity to gain real world experience in our award winning online teaching and learning faculty development program.
2. Create a program that contributes to the development of a qualified entry-level workforce pool of online instructional designers, technologists, and faculty development and support professional staff for the education pipeline.
3. Apply the Intern’s and his/her skills as a resource to assist the SLN education team in projects and initiatives to improve our support and services to campuses, faculty, and the program.
   

First Day: New Intern Orientation.

On the first day the Intern is met by the SLN Internship Mentor for an overview of SLN and introduction to the office and staff. The Intern is provided with an SLN Internship Information packet and a list of tasks for the first day.

Internship Information Packet contains:

1. A statement that the info that they may have access to from time to time may be proprietary and it not to be shared outside the organization_. Intern must sign._
2. A statement about computer and resources use_. Intern must sign._
3. Overview materials about SLN.
4. Organization documentation: org chart, phone numbers, map of office with key points (i.e., restrooms, cafeteria, refrigerator, smoking area, parking, printers, fax machine, etc.) 
5. List of URLs and access to online areas relevant to the internship projects (i.e., confluence, ning, angel)
6. Calendar of training dates for planning.
   

Tasks:

1. Review the list of projects and initiatives and develop specific measurable and achievable learning objectives based on selected projects for the internship period.
2. Write a job description based on the learning objectives, including the skills they will need to be successful in the internship position.
3. Meet with internship program mentor to review objectives, goals, and how the intern will be evaluated.

SLN Intern Orientation Checklist

HISTORY OF SLN

______ Introduce SLN’s websites

______ Review specifically our Philosophy, Identity, Mission & Values

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE SLN

______ Cover the roles of the managers

______ Roles of major operating departments

______ Describe how the program and departments fits into the flow of value to the campuses

______ Describe how the intern fits into the flow of value

______ Identify names, locations and roles of all SLN team managers

______ Provide current phone list with operating instructions

______ Provide names of education team members with whom the intern will deal

INDIVIDUAL ADMINISTRATION

______ Review frequency and next review date

______ Obtain signed Privacy and Computer use Agreement 

______ Review SLN policies in detail

SLN EDUCATION TEAM STRUCTURE

______ Reporting relationships

______ Office hours (starting and ending)

______ Lunch hours (and who can be away at the same time)

______ Call-in procedure if unable to be at work

______ Personal phone call procedures

______ Internet Policy

______ Breaks

______ Dress Code

______ Other office rules/policies (smoking, radios, etc.)

 OFFICE TOUR

______ Introduction to all staff members (explain what each does, length of service, etc.)

______ Location of rest rooms

______ Location of coffee, soft drinks, lunchroom, etc. as appropriate

______ Location of emergency exits & emergency equipment (fire extinguishers, first aid)

______ Location of supplies & common equipment (printers, copier, fax, etc.)

______ Office ID cards and building security

TRAINING

______ Review SLN training schedule, opportunities, timing, logistics

______ Location of training/reference materials

______ Review aspects of the physical work area 

______ Operating/Access instructions for any equipment, software, etc.

______ Whom to ask for the usual kinds of questions for the position (mentor)  

How the Intern will be evaluated

First Month:

Three key areas of concern: 1) Identify notable behaviors when performing job duties. 2) What is the general sense of Intern’s work ethic? 3) Gauge efficiency of duties performed.

Depending on the Intern’s performance, provide feedback to Intern on these three key areas. If performance has been generally good, a general overview of performance should suffice, however negative behaviors and low performance skills should be identified and discussed. Offer additional skills training if necessary. 

Second Month - (see attachment for description of each skill)

Perform a short evaluation using the scale 1) strong competency; 2) adequate progress; 3)

lacks competency. The skills to rank are:

• · Attention to detail
• · Coping
• · Responsiveness
• · Teamwork
• · Diligence
• · Relationship Building
  

Third Month

Conduct a feedback / question and answer session with the Intern. Intern should be

encouraged to discuss what areas of work are appealing. Discuss pros and cons.

What does he / she like and not like? (Open discussion)

Last Day of Internship

Conduct an exit interview. Do this either prior to the student leaving or via an online survey, within a few days of leaving.

(What did you learn, what did you like best, what did you like least, how can we improve this program. Anything else?)

Adapted from “Elements of a Successful Internship Program” by The Human Resource Management Association of Kansas City College Relations Committee 2007.

Second Month Skills List

Attention to Detail

-Has attained appropriate job knowledge

-Assembles and provides complete & accurate information

-Is thorough when checking for accuracy

-Keeps track of details even when under pressure

-Prioritizes & organizes workload

-Produces error-free work

Service Orientation

-Determines needs, concerns, & questions

-Delivers on commitments, or strives to meet/exceed expectations

-Helps to evaluate needs & options

-Follows up with to ensure satisfaction

-Is able to make reasonable decisions

Coping

-Maturely deals with unrealistic expectations of others

-Maintains composure & positive attitude even when under pressure

-Deals appropriately with pressing demands, time delays, & deadlines

-Adjusts approach when dealing with difficult or inflexible people

-Is able to prioritize

Responsiveness

-Responds by taking action to meet needs

-Responds quickly to minimize delays or problems

-Takes ownership for accurate & on-time completion of tasks

-Demonstrates initiative

Teamwork

-Seeks & acts on opportunities to assist others in achieving team goals

-Keeps work organized so other team members can fill in when necessary

-Acts as an example of enthusiasm & positive attitude

-Uses tact & understanding when dealing with internal and external staff/faculty

Diligence

-Meets attendance requirements

-Has a sense of urgency about getting results

-Does everything possible to reach goals

-Is willing to commit time required to meet internship requirements

Relationship Building

-Builds credibility & rapport with others

-Initiates cooperative relationships with external & internal staff

-Asks questions to understand needs & listens well to responses

-Is accountable for commitments to team members

-Demonstrates a positive attitude

Adapted from “Elements of a Successful Internship Program” by The Human Resource Management Association of Kansas City College Relations Committee 2007.

List of SLN education team proposed projects and initiatives for the Fall 2010 internship program

Pedagogical/Online Instructional Designer

1. Attend/Observe/Drive at SLN new/returning and QM trainings.
2. Create counterparts in Blackboard and Moodle of documentation in SLN101/201 and-objective generate SLN materials that are LMS agnostic or specific.
3. Assist with the SLN Student Services and Success initiative:
   -modernize/update student orientation.
   -how to be a successful/effective online student dynamic interactive website. Incorporate elements and indicators targeting student self-regulation.
4. Update the SLN Online Teaching survey with new and additional indicators for social, cognitive and learner presence. ( http://sln.suny.edu/teachingsurvey  )
5. Create a repository of online effective practices:
   Examples database from the courses for observation
6. Conduct and record scripted interviews with exemplar faculty for SLN faculty spotlights and podcasts.
   

Multimedia/Technologist

1.     Confluence: Assist in updating and maintaining the SLN Education content in confluence.

2.     Create learning objects on How to use the QM dashboard.  And produce other Captivate training materials.

3.     Elluminate best practice/use cases templates

4.     FORscene: record training sessions, chapterize them and ready them as learning objects for access.

Future Possibilities

• Assist during peek times at the HD.
• Assist with community facilitation in the SLN Faculty Ning.
• Assist in the development of an assessment instrument to evaluate SLN services.
• Assist at the SLN SOLsummit to record and upload archived presentations using FORscene. Or, assist in the live webcast and live online interaction during the conference.