Internship Expectations
Requirements/Guidance on In-Person/Partial Remote Internships
With the current circumstances of COVID-19, CUNY has issued guidance to those who are participating in internships that are non remote/partially remote. Please review the guidance below:
Due to the urgent need for proper health precautions in employment settings during COVID-19, CUNY has informed the campuses that student internship-seekers should be performing their new roles in remote-only format, in most, if not all cases. For those instances where an exception can be made, a waiver is required to ensure the employer has substantive plans and procedures in place to keep staff (including the interns) protected against the coronavirus. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure they or the employer provide documentation of the employer’s safety protocols (risk mitigation) and a waiver must be submitted to the Magner Career Center prior to the student commencing work.
Students should ask their internship employer to send the documentation about their safety protocol to intern@brooklyn.cuny.edu.
Students who do not submit the waiver are assumed to be participating in a fully remote internship. Students who choose to participate in in-person internships they obtained on their own, or before documentation is received, are participating at their own risk. The need for this documentation includes all internships that require any “travel” meaning that such a student cannot perform it 100% remotely. Students applying for part-time or full-time employment should be vigilant in their assessment of positions that require in-person work during the current pandemic. In addition to doing their due diligence in ascertaining an employer's risk-mitigation, students should contact the Magner Career Center to discuss safety concerns regarding a potential employment opportunity. The student understands that the ultimate decision to perform any in-person work during COVID-19 is theirs to make, and that such work may present unique health risks.
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.
- 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.
