Academic Internships & Community Partners

Community partners are a vital part of the internship experience. Community partners provide valuable hands-on training and mentorship for student interns that enhance their academic experience, engage students in career exploration, and prepare students for post-graduation success.

Community partners also benefit from being internship partners. Some benefits include: 

  • Increasing an organization’s visibility and strengthening connections with CSULB.
  • Creating a pipeline of talent and reducing recruitment costs.
  • Enhanced perspectives, specialized strengths, and skills sets.
  • Fostering leadership and mentoring skills with current employees.

An academic internship is a high impact learning experience that engages students in meaningful opportunities that integrate knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional setting.  A high-quality internship includes collaborative community partners that provide mentoring, to help students achieve personal and professional growth, and skill development to gain a competitive advantage in the global workforce. Student interns are enrolled in a concurrent internship course which includes goal setting, reflection, and discussion.  

Internship Standards  

We follow the National Association of Colleges and Employers and the Fair Labor and Standards Act internship standards.

NACE states that an internship should include:  

  • A learning experience with a real-world opportunity to apply the knowledge gained in the classroom. It must not be simply to advance the operations of the employer or replace the work that a regular employee would routinely perform. 
  • Learned skills and knowledge that are transferable to other employment settings. 
  • A defined beginning and end that is mutually agreed upon and consistent with institutional sponsor guidelines and schedules. 
  • A position description with clear responsibilities and required/desired qualifications. 
  • Clearly defined learning objectives/goals supportive of the student’s academic program goals and institutional requirements. 
  • Direct supervision by a professional(s) with relevant expertise and educational and/or professional experience who provides productive feedback, guidance, and the resources and equipment necessary to successfully complete the assignment. 

The Test for Unpaid Interns and Students:

  • The extent to which the intern and the employer clearly understand that there is no expectation of compensation. Any promise of compensation, express or implied, suggests that the intern is an employee—and vice versa. 
  • The extent to which the internship provides training that would be similar to that which would be given in an educational environment, including the clinical and other hands-on training provided by educational institutions. 
  • The extent to which the internship is tied to the intern’s formal education program by integrated coursework or the receipt of academic credit. 
  • The extent to which the internship accommodates the intern’s academic commitments by corresponding to the academic calendar. 
  • The extent to which the internship’s duration is limited to the period in which the internship provides the intern with beneficial learning. 
  • The extent to which the intern’s work complements, rather than displaces, the work of paid employees while providing significant educational benefits to the intern. 
  • The extent to which the intern and the employer understand that the internship is conducted without entitlement to a paid job at the conclusion of the internship

 Detailed Partnership Development Process 

CCE Partnership Development Process

 

 

 

 

In The Community Partner Guide to Hosting Academic Interns, we provide information about academic internships, how to become an official community partner, and best practices for Community Partners to successfully support academic interns.

What is an academic internship and how does that differ from a traditional internship? 

Academic interns are interns that perform an internship alongside a class that requires the internship for course credit. These internships require risk management agreements between CSULB and the internship site, learning outcome agreements, communication with the internship faculty, and formal evaluations. Academic internships also typically follow the semester calendar. 

Non-academic interns are students taking an internship independent of a course. These positions are separate from the University. These internships are not required to align with university policies.

What are the benefits of being an internship partner? 

There are many benefits of becoming an official internship partner. Partners can connect with and extend their opportunities to multiple programs at CSULB. Additional benefits include: extra hands to support the important work you do, developing relationships with CSULB and other Community Partners, increasing visibility of your organization on campus and in the community, and the energy and enthusiasm of interns who may be inspired by your mission and carry it forward in their future lives and careers.

How does an organization become an internship partner? 

To become a formal internship partner, organizations complete the Request to Initiate Partnership form on S4. This form will be reviewed by a Center for Community Engagement staff members. If more information is needed, CCE staff will follow up with the organization. Once the form is approved, a Student Fieldwork Placement Agreement (aka Affiliation Agreement) will be sent to the organization to sign. Once the agreement is complete, internship partners can share their opportunities with the Academic Internships Office. The AIO will connect internship partners with departments and programs that align with the organization’s needs. 

What is a Student Fieldwork Placement Agreement (SFPA) and why do we need to have a SFPA to host student interns? 

Academic programs that require fieldwork or internship experience as part of the course requirement need to memorialize the agreement with the internship site through an “Affiliation” or “Student Field ]work Placement” agreement. The agreement secures the student’s access to the site and ensures that the site’s personnel will supervise the student and provide a meaningful experience. The agreement also defines the relationship between the University, the site, and the student. An agreement between the University and the internship site is necessary for all fieldwork placements for academic credit, as well as internships that the University is responsible for coordinating or for which the University provides academic credit. More information about the agreement can be found on the CSULB Contract Management website.

What is the Student Fieldwork Placement Agreement process?

For a standard agreement: Once a community partner has been identified to be able to provide internship opportunities that align with CSULB and/or college requirements, a Student Fieldwork Placement Agreement will be initiated by a CSULB staff or faculty member. The document is initiated on DocuSign. The document should be sent to someone at the internship site who has signing authority, this is typically a President, Executive Director, CEO, or someone from the HR and/or legal team. The internship site representative will sign the agreement. The agreement will be routed to a College Dean for final signature. 

For modifications or to request CSULB to sign an organization’s agreement: Please work with your CSULB contact and the Contract Services team to make modifications or to request CSULB to sign an organization’s agreement. Your contact from CSULB will coordinate the process. If you do not have a contact at CSULB, please contact the Academic Internships Office (cce-internships@csulb.edu).

What is the academic internship timeline? When can I expect student interns to be at our organization? 

Academic Internship align with the semester calendar. We recommend recruiting students a semester before your preferred start date. Students complete their internship hours during the 15-week semester. Fall semester is August – December, Spring semester is January – May, Summer semester is May – August. You can review 2024 – 2025 the academic calendar here.

How do I advertise internship opportunities to CSULB students? 

There are various ways to advertise your internship opportunities. 

  1. You can participate in one of our campus coordinated internship programs, Long Beach Community Internship Program or College Corps @The Beach. 
  2. Send your internship description to the Academic Internships Office (cce-internships@csulb.edu) and CCE staff will connect you with departments and programs that align with your internship needs. 
  3. Post your internship opportunity on CareerLINK, the CSULB internship and job board site managed by the Career Development Center. 

What are the expectations of being an internship site supervisor? 

Internship sites hosting academic student interns are expected to:

  • Provide a safe work environment. 
  • Provide an orientation at the start of the internship. Use the following orientation checklist to ensure you cover all relevant information, including emergency procedures. 
  • Provide relevant education/training and professional work experience in as many aspects of the organization as possible. The work must include professional development activities that involve deliberate learning and cannot be limited to clerical work.
  • Assign a professional as the site supervisor to the student intern. The supervisor maintains a mentoring relationship with the student intern and provides ongoing feedback about his/her work.
  • Provide enough work for the student intern to meet the course requirement. Most departments require 90 - 150 hours of internship engagement. Therefore, students should work approximately 6 – 10 hours/week for 15 weeks while they are enrolled in the internship course.
  • Agree to begin the internship before or during the first week of the semester during which the student is earning course credit. It is the student’s responsibility to notify the supervisor of this date.
  • Sign and return to the student intern mandatory paperwork that confirms the internship placement and outlines the organization’s understanding of the internship. The paperwork varies by department. The student intern is responsible for obtaining the direct supervisor’s signature and returning the form to the course instructor.
  • Provide pertinent policies and procedures, including pre-placement requirements (e.g., training, background check, TB test, etc.), to student interns before he/she begins working.
  • Ensure open lines of communication between student intern’s site supervisor and course instructor.

Review the Center for Community Engagement’s Community Partners Guide to Hosting Academic Interns for more information. 

What should I do if I have an issue with a student intern? 

The site supervisor may be the first person that an intern approaches with an issue or complaint. We encourage you to do your best to address the issue with the intern directly and work toward a solution. If that does not seem to be working, please advise the internship faculty so that they can support you and the intern in progressing though the steps to reach a solution. Review the Center for Community Engagement’s Community Partners Guide to Hosting Academic Interns for more information.