Internships

Dr. Quinn and a Student using Zoom to Learn from a Distance.

Practical, hands-on educational experience

The Educational Administration Internship Program is composed of two on-site full semester courses (EAD 790 & EAD 791) and one off-site course (EAD 792) for the building level certification, and three on-site (EAD 882, 883, 886) for the Superintendent level certification. The on-site courses provide students approximately 300 hours of practical building level and district level experience before leaving the program.  The Educational Administration Internship Application must be completed and submitted to the Educational Administration Office prior to registration for the internship. The first and second internship (790, 791, 882, 883, 886) requires students to create action plans, produce tangible products for an internship portfolio and write a self-reflective piece describing the experience of collaboratively implementing programs that make a difference in schools (150-hour investment/Internship). The two on-site course’s cohort format allows students from a variety of educational contexts to share ideas and problems in order to test them against a diverse audience. 

Through the two on-site cohort, students: 

  • Identify and analyze current practices affecting a school’s learning environment
  • Interact with school administration to identify problem areas within the learning environment
    • Work collaboratively with parents, students, teachers and other community stakeholders to create change within the learning environment
    • Work collaboratively with the cohort to share ideas and experiences as well as sharing information concerning different learning contexts

The third building level (EAD 792) course of the internship requires students to study and interact with community and state agencies which have activities that affect schools and their constituencies. As in the on-site courses, students are expected to apply best practices, to collaborate with a variety of constituencies within the framework of their institution and community, and to compare processes and procedures in their district with those of other communities and institutions in an effort to address student and family needs that affect learning.

During the off-site internship, students:

  • Identify and analyze services available through community health, social and other related agencies 
  • Participate, through simulation, in solving selected community problems 
    • Work collaboratively with a community agency to address the social, health or emotional needs of at least one student or family at the case level
    • Write a self-reflective piece describing their experience of utilizing community services to assist the learning environment 
    • Share their experiences with members of their cohort group in order to test their ideas and plans against a diverse audience

 Internship portfolios

The portfolio for each internship experience is to be an organized product that reflects the activities, processes, and products that the student encountered and produced during the internship.

Deadlines

The intern experience is an integral part of this major and should be planned for, with the advisor, in advance of the semester in which the student desires to register for the experience.