Internship Programs for a Fee

Last week was Spring break in Nebraska, can't get any better than this! Well, actually our students try and head out to warmer or more exotic places. They just don’t realize how exotic Nebraska can be! It made me think about our students who are interested in interning abroad or even in a different geographic location. There have been more of those “internship for a fee” type programs contacting our office.

A few months ago the committee talked about the rise of internship programs that have a fee associated with student participation. In fact, the January 28, 2009 Wall Street Journal talked about these types of programs (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123310699999022549.html). Some campuses have formal relationships that promote these types of fee based internship programs while other campuses do not endorse such programs and do not allow them to post opportunities.

I’ve heard both sides – some students have a wonderful experience and find it worth every dime. Others paid a fee that was not refundable or wondered if they could have gotten the internship without paying a program fee. But students hear in their academic departments how important it is to make connections, to have global experiences, etc. So parents might see these programs as the best way to make that happen.

I know there is no way that my office could have all of those global connections so I’m glad there are options. Our role, I guess, is back to the education – helping students (and their families) learn about options. Maybe I just wish I was a world traveler who could talk about these possible experiences with some level of confidence. So, if there is a world tour, with no cost to me, sign me up! (Or maybe I should be watching the Travel Channel more often…)

Chris Timm, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Principles for Professional Practice Committee Chair

Choosing our online “friends”

I, as several of our staff, have a Facebook account. I mostly did it so I understood what students were talking about, but now I find that I enjoy catching up with friends and family (and keeping up with my daughters). As an office, we’ve been increasingly using LinkedIn and I have an account there. I also have a Ning account through an academic connection. So now with me blogging and social networking, hopefully I’m a really cool mom.

A colleague at another institution posed a great question a few weeks ago, “Is it okay to “link in” with recruiters? What about linking up with students? Only some students? If students can access your links to recruiters and you don’t link up with all students are they being denied access to an employment network (NACE principle #6)? How much information should we share via our own profiles? Anything we want? How should we respond to requests for ‘recommendations’? “

I have thought about that, I’ve had students who I briefly met ask to be my friend” and recruiters asking me to “link” with them. What does that friendship mean? Do I want them to know my favorite movie or that I’m fighting a cold? Do I care that they are short of sleep or just bought a new coat? It seems rude to “ignore” a request – I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Does that person who is asking to be my friend really want me, for me, to be their friend or are they hoping for an inside track to opportunities? I think this is an area that we may need to be developing internal policies – just as some of our K-12 people are doing telling teachers to not have students as Facebook friends.

Chris Timm, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Principles for Professional Practice Committee Chair

Unpaid internships

This last year my office started posting volunteer and service learning opportunities through collaboration with our student involvement office. We’ve been excited to reach a whole new group of employers and to have more opportunities to present to students. But lately I’ve been seeing volunteer positions that almost seem to be replacing regular staff. For example, a government office asking for volunteer receptionists and office help. In my mind I can justify us listing the position if it helps expose that student to particular fields and to develop networking contacts. But some of these just don’t seem like that would happen.

In this tighter economy, we have parents wanting their child to get good paying part-time jobs. But when those parents contact us as employers, they want a lot of assistance for free. I know there are considerations related to the Fair Labor Standards Act and many NACE resources related to unpaid interns. All of the legal issues aside, I just don’t want students to be taken advantage of nor workers to be displaced by free labor.

Chris Timm, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Principles for Professional Practice Committee Chair