Add Meaning to the ACUHO-I Internship Experience
In every phone interview that I conducted for ACUHO-I interns this year, I openly discussed what makes the experience at our institution different than other internships candidates may have been considering. Aside from the administrative nature of the position and the opportunity to work in a department that is only two years old, I also pointed out the not-so-obvious: When I hire two summer interns, I double the size of our office staff.
Because of this, the intern process means something different for our department than it may for larger departments. Departments that hire six or eight interns as conferences staff potentially also double the size of their staff, but without the two additional bodies [and brains!] brought in each summer, our operation would fail to thrive. We rely on those two additional people to move our operation forward. I am continuously amazed by what these young soon-to-be professionals are able to accomplish in the eight weeks they are with us. In fact, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t use something created or enhanced by a previous intern.
Previous interns have told me they value the experience they had because it is so different than what many of their peers experience during the summer. For our interns, there is no distribution of linens, no camps, and no conference-themed polo shirts in their closets. They tell me that their peers are often envious of the “inside” look at an operation, particularly a new one, that they receive. And while you can’t rewind to make your department new again, here are some ideas to give your summer interns a more meaningful experience, no matter what the focus of their position is:
- Before interns arrive, send them a packet that includes information about the campus and local community. Share recent copies of the student newspaper, particularly those featuring articles related to your department. Also include any marketing material that your department utilizes to familiarize them with basic themes, mission, goals, etc. Include a survey to assess their interests beyond the scope of their position. Use that information to arrange meetings for them with other university administrators early in their time on campus or identify specific tasks within the department that they be able to get involved in.
- Utilize neighboring campuses for professional development opportunities. While I work at a regional campus of a large, state university, one of the nation’s largest private, faith-based institutions is down the street. We do an intern exchange and immersion program over the summer so they learn more about each type of operation.
- While waiting for institutional access to e-mail or other systems during those first days, provide documentation for interns to read. Remember that they are staff members, not just visitors, and should have access to annual reports, assessment data, quantitative statistics, demographics of the population served by your office, etc. The more they know early on the better able to serve they will be.
- Include interns in major strategic planning and assessment. Not only is this an opportunity they may not have at their own institutions, they also bring an objective perspective to the table.
- Let them take the lead. Don’t just invite interns to meetings throughout the summer. Let them facilitate meetings with other departments, particularly for the tasks of which they have ownership.
- Designate a dry erase board as “Future Intern List.” Have the interns jot notes of things future interns should know or ideas for next summer’s projects.
- Link interns with opportunities beyond the institution. Each summer I encourage our interns to write an article for Trends, GLACUHO’s magazine, about their experiences or a project they’re particularly proud of from their time at the university. This forms good professional development habits and provides an opportunity for reflection.
- Follow up, follow up, follow up. Before the interns leave at the end of the summer, we schedule an online staff meeting during the fall semester so they can be updated on how the things they worked on are going; whether that is new initiatives at staff training or a policy they helped benchmark. Let them know that they what they did mattered, even if they aren’t there to directly see the results.
Each internship position is different and has a varied intended outcome. Above all else, remember that the focus of the experience is education and immersion in a new university culture.
What does your department do to enhance the intern experience? Share your ideas and thoughts in the comments!
As a former ACUHO-I intern at this site, I agree fully with these tips. Now that I graduate and working as the Director of Housing at a small community college, I fall back on IUSB experience while making decisions in my work. During that summer, I was really able to see and understand how a small school operation works from the ground up. I also did learn about strategic planning in a way that I never was able to see even during my graduate work.
My first ACUHO-I internship experience was not so pleasant. I spent a summer during my undergraduate working conferences while not actually being able to take any ownership. My site-host first told me that I would be taking on supervision responsibilities but never told anyone else at the site that I was suppose to be taking lead on certain initiatives. I left that experience with a little less excitement about the field then I had going into the program.
I really do hope that potential host sites really do listen to the advice here, I think they are great points about giving back to the field and making the experience extremely beneficial to people that you select!