Internships

Internship with Office of Sustainability

The UCCS Office of Sustainability has partnered with GES to develop semester-long service project internships. This internship provides an opportunity for students to earn college credit for performing work within the Office of Sustainability. This position requires a minimum of 3 hours per week to be spent working within the office throughout the semester per 1 college credit (e.g., nine hours per week for three credits).

The intern will work with members of the Office of Sustainability to determine work duties and learning objectives. In addition to working within the office under those guidelines, the student will also need to meet educational requirements set forth from the GES Department.

Requirements

Internship

The student will be required to:

Sign a contract of understanding on the expectations for credit for the internship with your faculty mentor.
Record hours worked each week. Submit a log at end of semester.
Maintain a journal of duties performed within the Office and relevant learning experiences.
Submit a 3-5 page written summary of the work accomplished, the skills gained through the experience, and the degree to which they have met the learning objectives.

The general learning objectives for the position of Sustainability Intern are:

Understand the environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainability and how they are acted upon within the university.
Gain experience in sustainability efforts through hands-on activities including assisting with recycling coordination, energy and water conservation, and student engagement with the Office of Sustainability.
Develop an understanding of the challenges facing implementation of sustainability strategies within an educational institution and learn how to move campaigns forward.
Improve public speaking skills through developing and presenting informational sessions about sustainability to targeted groups on campus.\Internships can be tailored specifically to a student's area of interest, such as LEED buildings, or composting, if this is worked out with GES faculty before the internship begins.

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated and graded upon the degree to which they met the learning objectives, the supervisor evaluation, and the quality of the written summary.

Learning objectives may be altered to fit the particular needs of the intern and the department. Every effort will be made to match the intern's strengths and interests to appropriate learning experiences and tasks.

All students interested in the internship should apply through the Office of Sustainability (Internship Application). Once the intern for the semester is selected, students must sign up for GES 4980: Internship in Geography. You can take this course for a maximum of 4 credits. You should identify the GES faculty member you wish to sign up with. If you are selected, GES will provide you with the registration code to enroll.

While interns will likely work closely with all paid employees in the office, interns will report directly to the Director or Assistant Director of the Office. The directors will be responsible for completing the Employer Evaluation Form at the end of the semester, with feedback from other office members as necessary. Interns will be evaluated on their professional judgment, quality of work, attendance, and overall performance within the position. This evaluation will be provided to the GES faculty for inclusion in consideration of the intern's grade for the semester.