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Patricia
Roberts Harris Internship Program
Each year, the Patricia Roberts
Harris Program grants a limited number of Stipends
that enable students to the opportunity to find an approved
unpaid internship in public policy and be supported financially by
the program. The stipends are awarded on a competitive basis and are
open to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.
They are available during both the academic year and the summer
months. This program provides the students of
Howard
University
with a way of experiencing a variety of work opportunities, that
without financial support they may not be able to take advantage of.
The MISSION of the Patricia Roberts Harris program is to allow
students the opportunity to experience traditionally unpaid
internships that they have cultivated for themselves in city
government offices, city-run programs, and non-profits in order to
expand and enhance their understanding of public service.
While cultivating your own internship takes resourcefulness on
your part, many students have been particularly successful at it and
have found the rewards well worth their time and effort. Before you
can create your own internship, you need a clear understanding of
what an internship is and to be able to articulate that well to a
potential sponsor. Internships are called by many names -
experiential learning, on-the-job training or co-operative
education. Be clear in
your own mind about what you hope to accomplish in your internship.
Your main task when cultivating your internship is to
convince a potential sponsor that it would be beneficial for him/her
to offer you an educational experience. Be prepared to explain your
basic goals for the experience in a few sentences.
Some questions to consider are:
- Why
do you want an internship?
- What
kinds of tasks do you want to be doing?
- What
skills would you like to use?
- What
skills would you like to learn?
- What
do you hope to accomplish by the end of the internship?
Since you must convince a potential sponsor that it is worth
her/his time to provide you with an internship experience, be able
to tell the sponsor what you have to offer. Decide what you want to
learn in return for your services.
Initial objectives for your internship can be established in
two ways. You can state
your general objectives and then identify organizations which will
fulfill your needs, or you can first identify the organization for
which you want to work and then tailor your objectives to the needs
of the particular organization.
Whichever way you begin, a final statement of objectives and
goals will have to be negotiated between you and your internship
sponsor.
Identify an
organization it may be a business, non-profit group, government
agency, citizen’s coalition, public service organization,
educational institution or any other community working towards a
common goal. Once you have decided what you want to accomplish
with an internship, begin identifying organizations which might meet
your purposes.
One way to make your search for organizations easier is to
decide on a specific location where you want or have to be.
Once you have established a location or locations, you can
begin your research. After
you have decided where you want to be an intern, make contact with
that organization. You
will be much more successful in your attempt to create an internship
if you communicate directly, by name, with a specific person within
the organization.
The person with whom you communicate should also be in a
position to make a decision about your proposal.
This means you will need to contact the director, or
president, or the head of the department where you want to work.
You could also speak directly to the person with whom you
would like to be working during the internship.
If he/she likes the idea, he/she will usually be able to sell
it to the powers that be.
Please contact the
Ralph
J.
Bunche
International
Affairs
Center
for application availability
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