Internship Expectations
Requirements/Guidance on In-Person/Partial Remote Internships
If you have any internship opportunities that won’t be fully remote, please be aware that CUNY has informed the campuses that student internship-seekers should be performing their new roles in remote-only format. Students who choose to participate in an in-person internship, are participating at their own risk. If the internship is for credit or a stipend it must be approved.
Note that most in-person internships are not being approved even if it is for credit or a stipend.
Employers or students who have questions about whether their internship can be in person should reach out to intern@brooklyn.cuny.edu for assistance.
To ensure both student and employer get the most of the internship experience, we have found the following guidelines are helpful in establishing a successful internship:
- Adhere to the following Labor Guidelines: Internship Programs Under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Wage Requirements for Interns in For-Profit (pdf), and Non-Profit (pdf) Businesses.
- If the internship is partially or fully remote, please refer to the Magner Center's Virtual Internship Toolkit to help structure and plan the most rewarding experience.
- The internship experience is an extension of the classroom and should help students build skills that will help them toward their professional goals. Although we understand some work will be administrative, interns should not spend most of their internship fulfilling gopher duties.
- Learning objectives, responsibilities, and expectations for students should be discussed on the first day of the internship (these include the nature of the internship, supervisory arrangements, start and end date, compensation (if any), and work schedules).
- The intern should be assigned a mentor/supervisor who will be responsible for monitoring the progress of the intern, sharing feedback about work performance, providing training or being available to answer questions and is willing to complete an evaluation at the end of the internship (which will be sent by the Magner Career Center in January, June, or September).
- Introduce your intern to co-workers and other important contacts within your organization and familiarize them with company rules, policies, expectations, and resources early on.
- Encourage your intern to ask questions to clarify job responsibilities.
- Include your intern in staff meetings and related professional activities when possible.
- Employers must fully comply with applicable federal, state, and local laws relating to workplace safety and to discrimination in the workplace and is committed to equal employment opportunity, affirmative action, and nondiscrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, marital status, religion, age, disability, and veteran status. This commitment includes equal opportunity and nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in the workplace. The internship site should notify Natalia Guarin-Klein, director of the Magner Career Center (718.951.5696) immediately if the student has notified them of any issues that need to be investigated.
- Adhere to NACE's Principles for Ethical Professional Practice.
