MASTER S IN INDUSTRIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY INTERNSHIP MANUAL

Transcription

1 MASTER S IN INDUSTRIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY INTERNSHIP MANUAL Revised January 2014 Background The State of Connecticut and the UNH Graduate School require that recipients of the Master s degree must either successfully pass a comprehensive examination that covers the academic subject matter; or complete a capstone project that demonstrates their ability to work independently at a professional level of research or practice. To fulfill this requirement, the Master s in Industrial/Organizational Psychology (MAIOP) program offers each student a choice from three basic program options: 1) completion and defense of a Master's Thesis; 2) passing a comprehensive examination and taking extra electives; or 3) completing an Internship or Practicum in an organizational setting. Students should make this choice with the MAIOP program coordinator based on their professional and educational goals. The Internship option is for students who are not currently employed full-time in the field and desire a temporary placement in an organization. The intern works on projects related to the field in a supervised environment. The internship experience allows the student to be exposed to the operation of a Human Resources or Organizational Development department or other settings where I/0 Psychology graduates are likely to be employed. Acquiring practical experience allows the student to learn and grow as a professional. Internship experience increases the student s employment options and market value when searching for a first professional job. Internships also provide students with valuable knowledge about the many different career options available in our field. UNH interns have performed many HR/OD project activities including: Developing competency models Designing and analyzing employee attitude surveys Analyzing wage and salary structures Developing exit interviews Determining training needs Delivering training programs Writing affirmative action policies Updating policy and personnel manuals Developing and implementing performance management programs Reviewing and creating job descriptions Working with HRIS Recruiting and staffing Developing behavioral interviews Conducting focus groups 1

2 Interns from the MAIOP program have worked at many local and national organizations including: 3M, Advanced Placement, Aetna, American Medical Response, Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Cigna, City of New Haven,, Comcast, Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, GE Capitol, The Hartford, IBM, Loctite, People s Bank, Performance Programs, Relistar/Security CT Life, Stromberg Consulting, Stanley Works, Translux, Travelers, United Parcel Service, Xerox, Yale University, and Zygo. The MAIOP program coordinator identifies and arranges appropriate internship sites for MAIOP students. Resumes of all interested students are sent to organizational sponsors, who decide which students they wish to contact for an interview. Students are also strongly encouraged to establish a professional network for internship contacts. Students may find their own internship, however, students must obtain permission from the MAIOP program coordinator to contact an organization regarding a MAIOP internship. Both the site and the specific assignment arrangements must be approve the before the student makes a commitment to intern at a specific organization. Internships are sometimes compensated on an hourly basis, while others are done for academic credit or a stipend. Many students complete an unpaid internship for their first internship experience. The remainder of these guidelines describes the procedure for documenting your internship experience so that academic credit can be earned. General Information Students should review the material that describe the internship, thesis and comprehensive exam options early so that you choose the option that is best for your particular career goals. All students should prepare both electronic and paper copies of a current resume for the program coordinator. The resume should be error free, proofed, and ready to send to organizational sponsors. Any resumes sent to the coordinator via an attachment should have the student s name as part of the filename, e.g. Frank Shmank Resume. Be sure your resume is virus- free. The minimum amount of time spent on an internship to fulfill the requirements for three credits is 130 hours. Credit for two internships requires at least 260 hours. Note that most students extend their internship hours well beyond the minimum required. Students should focus on building his/her resume and increasing his/her value as a professional, not on satisfying the minimum hours. The Program Coordinator will be available to discuss the internship experience on an "as needed" basis. Depending on the nature of the internship, this may involve extensive or relatively little interaction after the tasks and goals of the internship have been set. Interns are expected to independently work out most issues with their sponsors. Students who select the internship option are required to attend the internship workshop offered in the spring trimester by the Program Coordinator. 2

3 Students typically interview for an internship placement. In the initial stages of arranging a match between the student and the sponsoring organization, it is perfectly acceptable for the student or the sponsor to withdraw from negotiations. It is important that both parties be enthusiastic about the internship. If both parties decide to begin the internship, a mutually satisfactory schedule is arranged between the student and the organizational sponsor. Generally, interns work hours per week. Sometimes, interns work full-time over the summer. At the beginning of the internship, the student and organizational supervisor jointly discuss and set performance goals/key results and record them on the Performance Expectation form. At the end of the internship, the student's performance is evaluated by the organizational sponsor. Both the Performance Expectation and Performance Evaluation form should be completed at this time. It is important that the intern and supervisor review the entire form at the onset of the internship. Students may elect to complete two internships (P6693 and P6694) at the same sponsoring organization. If this is the case, you do not need to prepare a complete report for both courses. One final report can be submitted for the combined six-credit period. However, you should turn in a mid-point progress report (after about 8-12 weeks) to the Program Coordinator that describes what has been accomplished to date. The progress report is generally brief (one page or less). If you complete two internships at two different locations, you must submit a complete final report for each one. Registering for the Internship Registration Timetable: students can register for the internship before, during, or after placement and completion. If the internship is unpaid, you should be registered for academic credit while you are on internship. Although you may locate an internship site by yourself, internship credit cannot be awarded for work experience gained without faculty supervision and verification. Internship/Practicum Application for Registration Form: You must complete this form and submit it to the program coordinator (or the MAIOP grad assistant) TWO WEEKS before you formally register for P6693 and/or P6694. This form is provided to you during the internship workshop, and is posted on the bulletin board in the Psychology department. The purpose of form is to notify the Graduate Records Department that the student has departmental permission to register for an internship. You will not be allowed to register for P-6693, P-6694 (Internship I and II) for credit unless the Graduate Registrar has a copy of this form. The MAIOP program coordinator will sign the form and process it through Graduate Records. You will receive a copy of the form in your Psychology dept. mailbox. 3

4 Otherwise, the registration process for P6693 and P6694 is the same as for any other course. (See application to register for internship or practicum) Intern Responsibilities Each intern must turn in the Internship Description form to the Program Coordinator ONE WEEK after you begin the internship. Journal: interns are required to keep a weekly journal when working on the internship. This will make it much easier to write the final report. Make a note of all of the time worked and what was accomplished. The time log can be on one side of the page, and on the other side make journal notes. This will prove to be especially helpful when writing the description of what was done and learned in the final report. A copy of the journal is to be included as an appendix to your final report. Communication: after an internship is begun, the intern will be working fairly autonomously. While interns are encouraged to work as independently as possible, the Program Coordinator is available to discuss problems, concerns or questions. The Internship Report Purpose to the Report: There are several purposes served by the final report: It allows the students to integrate what they have learned from the internship experience; it helps faculty advisors to more fully appreciate what students are doing in their field settings; and it provides both the University and employers with documentation to justify the benefits of the internship program. Although tasks and projects vary from setting to setting, it is necessary to show that a student s experience is worthy of academic credit. Students must provide evidence that demonstrates that they were able to apply acquired knowledge to organizational tasks. Finally, the internship report satisfies the State and Graduate School accreditation requirements for documentation of the Field Experience. Timetable for Final Report: Final report should be submitted to your faculty supervisor. Normally, it will contain copies of all project reports and examples/deliverables that resulted from the internship. If you wish to receive a grade for a particular trimester, but the internship has not formally ended, the report should be submitted three weeks before the end of that trimester. Otherwise, the report should be submitted three weeks after the completion of the internship. 4

5 Content of the internship report: Each report should have the following topic headings: Organizational Setting-- This should include a description of the organization, its purpose, goals, products and services, and a description of the organizational unit where the internship was completed. Description of the Internship--Two basic types of information must be discussed in detail in the internship report: specifically, What you did and what you learned. This will constitute the bulk of your report. The reader should be able to form a mental picture of the tasks performed and how I/0 methods and practices were applied. It is also important to explain what the experience did for you personally. Discuss how your understanding of basic concepts of I/O Psychology and Human Resources Management were broadened. These two topics do not have to be placed in two separate sections. They may be combined throughout the report. Generally, this part of the report comprises 8-10 pages. Evaluation of the Internship the internship report should include some evaluative comments about the work that was performed and the learning that was derived from doing it. If appropriate, include suggestions as to how the internship experience could be improved in the future. Use the Student Evaluation of Internship Form provided to satisfy this requirement. Performance Review Form -- See instructions on the form. It is important that students set expectations with their organizational supervisor at the beginning of the internship. At the completion of the internship, the supervisor will review results against the expectations set. The supervisor will also evaluate the intern on core competencies, such as oral communication, business orientation, motivation, etc. Appendices --Some crucial materials must be included with the report as appendices. Copies of the internship application for registration form, internship description form, a copy of the weekly time log and journal, a copy of the current resume, performance review form, student evaluation of internship form, and copies of any written products or deliverables from the experience (e.g., a technical report prepared for the organization, examples of job descriptions or other documents prepared) by the intern. Format of report: The final report may be written in a narrative form. It should be typed, double spaced, proofread, and pages should be numbered. The use of subsections and topic headings is strongly recommended. It may be written in the first person, but attempt to minimize the use of jargon and technical abbreviations. Audience: The internship report will be submitted to the intern faculty advisor. Additional people, such as the organizational sponsor, will see the report. In addition, University 5

6 Administrators and accreditation teams occasionally review them. Additionally, some students find it useful to show a copy of the completed report to prospective employers (provided there is no proprietary information included that the sponsor does not want distributed). Again, write for a broad and technically naive audience, not just for the faculty advisor. NOTE: Internship Reports are not returned to students. Make copies of any materials you wish to keep. Final conference: Within two weeks or so after completing the report, students should schedule a time to discuss the internship with the Program Coordinator. This conference will give both you and your advisor an opportunity to talk about any problems, questions about the report, and talk about future plans. This discussion may take place over the telephone. Grade: After reading the student s report and evaluation from the sponsor, the advisor will submit a grade to Graduate Records (providing the student is registered for the internship). Since the internship time frame doesn t always fit neatly into the school s academic calendar, it is common for a report card to show an Incomplete for the Internship. The final report must be completed no later than two weeks after your Internship/Practicum has ended, or three weeks before the trimester ends. The Program Coordinator will then turn in a grade to the graduate registrar. Internship grades are determined by the quality of the report, the intern s performance review, and timeliness of all required processes and materials 6