Internship Expectations
1. 40 hours/week for 15 weeks (600 hours)
2. A learning experience that supports your classroom learning at UMD: This
internship supports our program goal of professional development of outdoor and
environmental educators. Ideally you will have a chance to learn to teach about
or interpret a new ecosystem and to work with new audiences, topics, and
teaching methods. If possible, you are encouraged to visit other sites or centers
during your internship, so that you are exposed to additional examples of outdoor
education. Your internship should involve a variety of experiences, and the
following breakdown of time is suggested:
 50% Teaching experience or Natural resource management activities
(both planning and implementing).
 10% Administrative experience (marketing, fund raising, staff
development/training, budgeting, equipment maintenance, etc.)
 10% Assessment of Student Learning or Evaluation of Lessons/Programs
 30% Research Project (see description within list of Internship
Assignments)
Note: Your assignments should be built into your daily schedule, so that you are
not having to complete your research project, for example, on top of an eighthour work day.
3. Mentoring from your site supervisor: While you will have much to contribute to
your site, based on your coursework and previous work and personal
experiences, the goal is for you to learn from your site. Thus, it is expected that
your site supervisor guides you and challenges you, helping your learn from the
site through guided experience, rather than "turning you loose" to work
completely on your own.
4. Professional conduct: When you are working at your internship site, you are
representing the Recreation-Outdoor Education major and UMD. Their
impressions of our program will be shaped by their impressions of you! You are
expected to exhibit a strong work ethic, putting at least 100% effort into your
internship. Challenge yourself to be a self-reflective learner, thinking about how
you can apply what you've learned through the program to your internship. You
are expected to communicate professionally, using appropriate and correct forms
of oral and written communication, and to dress professionally and appropriately.
You are also expected to carry out your internship responsibilities with respect for
the rights, dignity, safety, and well-being of peers, instructors, participants, and
others with who you come in contact. It is also expected that you model
environmentally-responsible/low-impact behaviors, and that you distinguish
between being an outdoor educator and being an environmental advocate. As an
educator, you can help participants develop the knowledge and skllls to act
responsibly regarding the environment, but ultimately it is up to participants to
make their own decisions regarding what to think or do.