Career Center Internship
Program as an
Experiential Learning
Model
SUNY CDO Conference 2008
Marianna Savoca
Elena Polenova
Maggie Weickert
Today’s Agenda
• Experiential Learning: common definition
• Case study: Stony Brook University
• Elements of a successful internship program
- Corporate inspiration
- Facilitating learning
• Outcomes
• Experiential learning activity
What is Experiential Learning?
“Experiential learning takes place
when a person involved in an activity
looks back and evaluates it,
determines what was useful or
important to remember,
and uses this information to perform
another activity.”
-John Dewey
Setting the stage at Stony Brook
• Enrollment 2007 = 23,354 students
– 15,525 undergraduates & 7,829 graduate students
– 119 majors / minors, 102 master’s, 40 doctoral, and 32
graduate certificate programs.
• 15 Career Center staff (ratio about 1,500:1)
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Flourishing undergraduate research programs
Longstanding peer education programs
Academic internships for credit
Service learning courses
Career Center – Past
• 15 work study students to support the
basic functions of the office
– Schedule based on convenience
– Younger students
– No group training
Problems:
• Younger Students
Underprepared
• Limited motivation
• Disorganized and inefficient
Things to Consider:
• Change for office & for students
• More centralized program
• Add more prestige
Evolution of Internship Program
• Conducted Needs Assessment
– Used to discover what the different functions of the office are vs. what
the students need
• Kept in Mind Corporate Model
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Recruitment & selection
Extensive training & professional development
Challenging assignments that have direct impact
Team projects
• Consulted Faculty
– Needed assistance in putting together a more
meaningful educational piece
• Learning objectives were developed
– Defined intern responsibilities and what they will be
learning from us
• Made transition from what the office needs to
Experiential Learning
– All tasks, no matter how simple, should be part of a greater learning
experience no matter how big or small.
• Began with Peer Career Advisors
– Modeled this program after universities with benchmark Peer Career
Advising programs
– Best Career Peer Advising schools have some sort of
counseling or education program at the university
• Became a more structured program
– Continue adding learning objectives
– Valued experience to put on a resume
Experiential Learning Model
Learning – “the process
whereby knowledge is created
through the transformation of
experience.” (Kolb, 1984, p.38)
Concrete
Experience
Testing New
Situations
Observation and
Reflection
Forming Abstract
Concepts
Facilitating Experiential Learning
• If experiential learning is not facilitated in the
correct way it can lead to wrong results
• Create environments where learning can be
facilitated
• The facilitation of learning is key to
successful experiential learning outcomes
Expected Learning Outcomes
• Interns will deepen their knowledge in their
respective fields
• Interns will acquire knowledge of the industry
they are working in
• Interns will develop transferrable skills
• Interns will develop skill specific to their
industry
Recruitment and Selection
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Highly selective
Involve current interns in recruitment process
Outreach to student groups
Use job posting venues that are familiar to the
students
• Two stages interviewing process
Training and Facilitation of Learning
• Pre-semester weekend retreat
• Mandatory weekly two hours meetings
• Combination of academic style seminars, role playing,
and de-briefing sessions
• Joint seminars in which all career center interns
participate, as well as separate group sessions
• Regular meetings with faculty advisors
• Regular meetings with on-site supervisors
providing feedback
• Written reflections
• Meaningful projects, and group projects
Asst Director
Employer
Relations &
Diversity
Associate Director
Employer Relations
Associate Director
Career Education
VCS
Coordinator
Internship
Consultant
Arts &
Humanities
Student
Employment
Career
Counselors
Career
Counseling
Interns
Human
Resources Interns
Communications
(reports to
director)
Marketing
Coordinator
Marketing
Interns
Public
Relations
Interns
Communications
Assistant
Graphic
Design
Interns
Technology
Interns
Career
Planning &
Development
Asst
Career Counseling Interns
Responsibilities
• Assist peer students at Stony Brook in their
career development
• Use CC resources to assist students
Learning Objectives
• Apply career development theory to interactions
• Use counseling skills
• Make referrals
Human Resources Interns
Responsibilities
• Conduct resume reviews & mock interviews
• Assist in organizing job fairs & recruitment
events
• Prospect employers via written & telephone
Learning Objectives
• Increase their knowledge of the recruiting
process
• Learn effective communication skills
Marketing Interns –Communications Team
Responsibilities
• Promote services among students in a variety of
campus venues
• Create & execute marketing plans
• Deliver presentations in classes & club meetings
Learning Objectives
• Learn how to develop marketing plans
• Develop public speaking skills
• Discover the different types of creative ways
to reach their target audience
Public Relations Interns-Communications Team
Responsibilities
• Develop content for website & Career Planning
Calendar
• Write copy for and record CC podcasts
• Assist with the planning and execution of major events
Learning Objectives
• Further develop professional writing skills
• Discover the different types of creative ways to
reach their target audience
Graphics Interns-Communications Team
Responsibilities
• Design advertising and promotional materials for the
Career Center, CC publications, special events and
bulletin boards.
Learning Objectives
• Gain an understanding of connections between
design and marketing strategies
Technology Interns-Communications Team
Responsibilities
• Provides tech support for the office
• Assess new technologies & make recommendations
• Manages office servers
• Web Programming
Learning Objectives
• Learn to communicate with non-technical clients
• Develop programs in response to client needs
• Learn new technologies
• Assess needs in order to create
friendly & functional website
a user-
"For me, the Career Counseling Internship has
helped me gain insight on how students make
career decisions, and I was able to play a part
in helping students explore career options,
which in turn was wonderful to be a part of.”
-Maria G.‘08
"Communication is key. Working on a class
assignment trying to make it meet specification is one
thing but effectively managing requirements and
feature requests from multiple people is a very
different realm. Regardless of the book knowledge that
you may have, if you cannot effectively communicate
and understand the ideas that you or others may
present, everything you bring to the table is practically
useless. This is the kind of experience that is difficult
to mimic in a classroom setting.”- Betson T.‘08
“The Career Center has been a nurturing
environment where I could explore my specific
interests in the broad field of human
resources. I have been able to do everything
from strengthening my presentation skills
…to learning more effective ways of
communicating with employers, professionals,
and colleagues…. I am confident that
accepting this internship at the Career Center
is one of the best decisions I have ever made,
and I know I will keep benefiting from the
knowledge I gained here for years to come.”
– Theresa C. ’07
“I learned that criticism and change
comes with the field. It was hard to
accept at first, especially when you
feel confident about a design and the
way you had the layout. However, it
is ultimately up to your client who
decides what the final design and
layout will be. If the client is happy,
then you've done your job.“ -Rodney
C.‘08
Our Success Stories
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Kristen Gallo’05 CCI – Northeastern Univ (higher education)
Deirdre Gross’04 CCI – Syracuse Univ (school psychology)
Scott Moeller’05 CCI – Univ of Michigan (PhD program in social psych)
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Phil Camacho’07 TECH – SBU Client Support
Kaman Cheong’07 CCI – SBU Human Resources / SA
Lucy Kim ’05 CCI – SBU Academic Advising
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Monica Myers ’08 ER, Kevin Quan’06 ER -Lehman Brothers
Poonam Kaur ’08 ER – Travelers
Jessica Inoa ‘08 HR- PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Liang Guo ’08 Graphics, Viraj Mehta’07 TECH-JP Morgan Chase
Nadia Saleh, ’07 MKTG – Target Mgmt Associate program
Meti Yemani’07 CCI – Simon & Schuster
Argenis Sanchez’06 MKTG and Marisela Lopez’07 HR – Citigroup
Luis Gil’07 MKTG and Manting Li’06 MKTG – Goldman Sachs
Christina Rugari’06 ER –ICON labs
Faye Lee’06 CCI – Bilinguals, Inc.
Lauryn Couch’05 EDIT – Dan Klores Public Relations
QUESTIONS?