Washington D.C. Internship Program

Roles and Responsibilities

Each party has responsibilities to, and expectations for, each of the other parties. At Pepperdine University, we strive to facilitate appropriately balanced internships, where each party is aware of, and capable of, fulfilling their responsibilities. In this setting, internships can be rewarding and mutually beneficial.

Employer's Roles and Responsibilities

Balance Learning and Labor: Perhaps the most unique aspect of an internship is its dual nature: it is both an exercise in learning and in labor. For an internship to be optimally successful a balance between learning and labor must be maintained. Employers need to actively participate in providing learning opportunities for their interns. This can be facilitated through training sessions, job shadowing, attending strategy meetings, and other such activities.

Job Description: Developing a job description provides both the employer and the intern with a clear vision of the job responsibilities and serves as a tool to help clarify expectations.

Instruction and Assessment: Hosting an intern requires making an organizational commitment to invest time and energy in educating the intern about the organization's culture, procedures, goals, and priorities. Initial and ongoing training, as well as regularly scheduled assessments, are integral to good internship management.

Physical Resources: For an intern to be a productive learner and worker, the space and tools necessary for a professional job must also be available. Typically, interns have office space, including furniture, supplies, and access to a telephone and a computer. They may of course share these resources with other interns and staff.

Student's Role and Responsibility

Internship Placement: Students are encouraged to assume as much responsibility as possible for securing their internship as well as for the learning that occurs during the internship.

Work Ethic: Students are expected to complete all internship responsibilities and to meet the basic expectations of any employee including arriving on time, dressing appropriately, notifying employer of requests for days off or illness, and behaving professionally.

Pepperdine University's Role and Responsibility

Build and Maintain Collaborative Relationships: Pepperdine works to develop relationships with employers and students that are both collaborative and educational.

Site Visits: It is the programs goal to personally visit each employer. If circumstances prevent this visit, contact can be completed via phone conversation or email.

Monitor Student Learning: Student learning is monitored through the use of internship seminars, mid-term and final evaluations, site visits, journal assignments, collaborative reflection, presentations and reflective papers.

Assessment: The University assesses work performance and academic learning at the mid-term and final.