What a rewarding experience it is to see students enjoying their internships and gaining insight into their potential career paths! Not only that, the benefits of visiting an intern at her or his internship site are many. The site visit will also allow you to: Ensure that the intern is having a good learning experience and is accomplishing the established learning objectives Discuss any potential problems or issues with the internship Better evaluate the site as an appropriate future location for student interns Advise future students about that particular internship or site Provide excellent public relations for your academic department and the University
Tips for a Successful Site Visit So, what exactly do you do on a site visit?! While not inclusive, the tips below may help you arrange and carry out a successful internship site visit.
Schedule the visit at a time when both the intern and the site supervisor are working (but available). Ask the site supervisor to allocate 30 minutes for an individual visit. Ask if there is anything he/she would like you to know or prepare for before the visit. Ask the site supervisor if it would be possible to meet with the intern during your site visit to discuss progress on the established learning objectives, potential problems/issues, etc. Prior to the visit, ask the student to put together samples of his/her work for you to see during the visit. At the end of the visit, ask the site supervisor if he/she would be interested in working with another intern in a future semester.
Questions to Ask Think about questions you might ask the site supervisor, such as: In general, how are things going so far? Is the internship following the description, or have there been changes? If so, why? What are they? How has this internship experience impacted your organization? What type of professional growth have you observed from your intern? What has been the best/most challenging part of the internship experience? What is in the future for the internship? What new projects or assignments will develop? What would you like to see the student focus on in his or her own development? Think about questions you might ask the intern, such as: What are your daily responsibilities? Describe the activities you engage in during a “typical” week. Have your responsibilities changed over the term of the internship? What is your role and level of input during meetings? Are you comfortable taking an active role? Reflect on the nature of your supervision. Is it what you thought it would be? In what ways is it helping you? How could it be better? What kinds of feedback do you receive from your supervisor(s)? Describe the toughest or most difficult task you have been assigned during your internship. What skills or tasks would you like to continue to develop? How have you changed as a person since this internship began? Reflect on the relationship between your academic experience and the applied experience of the internship. What are you learning in your internship that was not available in the classroom? What are you experience that is illuminating or building on what you studied in the classroom? Is this experience sending you messages about what you would/would not like to do in the future?
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