Important Notice IDEV Summer Internship Project (SIP) 2009
Rules, Procedures and Deadlines We welcome IDEV students to the 2009 Summer Internship Project (SIP). This year we will be offering approximately twenty internships with a range of partner institutions in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Rules and Procedures
Timeline and Deadlines
Professionalism in Making A Commitment to Accept a Summer Internship
Completing terms of internship, evaluations and acknowledgements to donors
Past Internships Sponsored by SIP Rules and Procedures: - Our priority will be those IDEV students graduating AFTER spring 2009. As we do each year, IDEV students currently in Bologna are warmly encouraged to apply and they will again be included in this year's selection process. Under exceptional circumstances, we will also accept applications from those 2nd year IDEV students currently in DC who have NEVER had experience/internships working in a developing country. If you are a second year student with a strong rationale for applying for one of the SIP internships, please consult with me beforehand.
IDEV Students may apply for TWO SIP internships, and we will be pleased to discuss the openings with you to help you determine which opportunity best fits your interests and career goals.
Grant awards are $2500 per internship and the funds are typically used to cover the costs of international airfare, as well as living expenses. Most - but not all - SIP institutions provide modest cost sharing, such as the provision of local housing.
As there are funds available for approximately twenty internships at this time, and as the opportunities may not be exactly what individual students are looking for, all IDEV students interested in a summer internship should also be pursuing other opportunities. For example, there are also SAIS career services summer internship fund grant awards that are separate from the IDEV SIP program. They have their own rules procedures and eligibility requirements. If you are awarded an SIP internship grant, and accept it, however, you are ineligible for a second career services internship grant. The guidelines for the 2009 Summer Internship Fund (SIF) grant awards are expected to be posted by Career Services by the end of 2008.
- Applications will consist of the following:
a. A resume in SAIS format (maximum length two pages)
b. A cover letter detailing your qualifications and your reasons for wanting this particular position (maximum length two pages). Note: if you are applying for an internship for which you have no prior experience, we strongly encourage you to address that in your letter. Explain your career goals, what classes you will be taking before the summer, etc. The salutation for the cover letter could be Dear Professor Dornsife and ---fill in hosting institution name -- Colleagues:
- Transcripts are not a part of the application -- do not include them; students are encouraged to list relevant course work in their cover letters and resumes.
- All internships information will be listed on the IDEV website on the SIP web page. The URL is http://www.sais-jhu.edu/programs/I-dev/SIP/SIPIndex.html Please note that the 2009 information will be posted as the information is received from the hosting institutions.
- A five-member SIP Review panel will evaluate initial applications. The Review panel is made up SAIS faculty, staff, alumni, and previous SIP interns.
- The top two (or in some cases) three applications for each of the internships will be provided to the partner institutions. If there is only one semi-finalist, that person will be nominated to the hosting institution.
- Partner/hosting institutions are strongly encouraged to interview all SAIS selected semi-finalists. Selection as a candidate by the SAIS review panel does not guarantee an interview. That decision will be left to the discretion of the Partner institution, but it has been strongly encouraged. Once you are nominated, do feel free to be in contact with the hosting institution to request a time to talk.
- Partner intuitions will choose the finalist(s) for each internship. The hosting institution makes the final decision and the final offer.
Timeline and Deadlines: Our goal is to advise students of decisions about the internships as soon as possible. To that end we have created the following time line and set of procedures: Wednesday September 24, 2008 - Interests survey - Submit a short email to Victoria Wilson (vwwilson@gmail.com) with a copy to Cinnamon Dornsife (cdornsife@jhu.edu) listing your preference for a geographic region (Latin America/Caribbean, Africa, Asia/Pacific, Eastern Europe); type of organization (NGO, international organization, private sector, etc.) and sector (e.g. microfinance, advocacy, etc) Victoria Wilson will follow up with an email reminder in mid- September 2008 to all first year IDEV students in DC and Bologna requesting this information.
Friday, September 26, 2008 IDEV summer Internship Program 2009 Briefing, 12:30 - 1:30 PM, Rome 200, Cinnamon Dornsife Moderator, and panelists will include Marty Tillman, Associate Director Career Services: as well as a number of SIP 2008 interns. Wednesday October 12, 2008 (TBC) IDEV Summer Internship Program Briefing 2009, (Exact time and date for SIP briefing TBC) at the BOLOGNA CENTER Overview provided by Cinnamon Dornsife followed by Q&A. December 2008 All confirmed 2009 SIP internship opportunities will be posted on the IDEV website (due to unforeseen delays, some internship descriptions are not posted, but are still expected.) Friday January 2, 2009 - Deadline for written applications from all students in DC and Bologna (resume and cover letter). E-mail applications to Cinnamon Dornsife at cdornsife@jhu.edu with a copy to Victoria Wilson at vwwilson@gmail.com and Marty Tillman at mjtillman@jhu.edu Tuesday January 13, 2009, Meeting of the SIP review panel. Top candidates and hosting institutions will be notified no later than January 16, 2009. January 16, 2009 to February 28, 2009 Partner institutions are strongly urged to interview their chosen candidates in January-February 2009. Bearing in mind that the application for the internship indicates serious interest in the position, once a student has been offered an internship s/he has three (3) CALENDAR DAYS TO ACCEPT/DECLINE, or the internship will be offered to the Partner institution's next choice. March 1, 2009 If internship offers are not finalized by partner/hosting institutions - the remaining funds will be allocated on a first come first served basis for self identified internships in a developing country - one without significant security risks - for a minimum of ten weeks, with an institution and an internship that meets the student's career goals. The same grant of $2500 will be given for such self-identified internships. The same application requirements apply - a one page cover letter and a resume in SAIS format. Explain how the internship will serve to enhance your international development career goals. The goal is to enhance choice and flexibility. As the amount of funds available for this purpose will depend upon how many of the regular SIP positions remain unfilled, it is not possible to estimate how much funding will be available for this purpose until March 2009. A written announcement will be made at that time. March 28, 2009 PRACTICAL RESEARCH METHODS MINI-SEMINAR 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM Professor Grace Goodell will again offer her Saturday morning mini-seminar on practical research methods. This mini-seminar is not required - though it is strongly recommended for students who are going on an SIP 2009 internship - either program or self identified - who have not taken the Practical Research Methods class. MAKING A COMMITMENT No matter what the funding source, once a commitment is made, IDEV fully expects the student to undertake the internship. If the student does not honor their commitment, s/he will be denying the opportunity to a fellow student, and will harm the reputation of the IDEV Program and the Summer Internship Project. We realize that the deadlines and decision making process for IDEV SIP internships precedes the time line for the internship awards made through the office of Career Services. Consider this and choose wisely. NOTE: There will be consequences for dropping out of an internship commitment(other than health/family emergencies, etc.) Most notably your reputation in the IDEV program will be tarnished, which will have a direct impact upon future job recommendations. Please see Prof. Douglas' comments on the subject: Professionalism in Making A Commitment to Accept a Summer Internship IDEV students who are offered a summer internship, and accept the offer, should not break that commitment (other than for serious illness, etc.), even if a better alternative subsequently appears. In one's professional career, it is common that when applying for internships, jobs, etc., one's second choice may offer the internship or job first, and ask for a definite decision by you, before you hear from your first choice. You must then choose to either: - accept that second-choice offer and give up the possibility that your first choice might subsequently make you an offer, or
- not accept the second-choice offer, gambling that your first choice option may yet appear.
Which action to take may be a difficult decision, but once you make a commitment, professional ethics obliges you not to break it. If you accept a summer internship and then retract your acceptance, this reflects badly on both you and on the IDEV program, thus putting in jeopardy both your future efforts at job-hunting, and IDEV's efforts to arrange future internships with prospective host organizations. "A deal's a deal". Prof. Douglas. Completing terms of internship, evaluations and acknowledgements to donors Every IDEV student participating in the 2009 Summer Internship project is required to write an evaluation. The career service on line evaluation tool, through the SAISworks profile, is designed to provide all of your fellow students with helpful information as they plan and consider their own internships. It also helps to provide the best experiences to future interns. Please note that students receiving fellowships from specific donors (e.g Schwartz, Miller, Sullivan, O'Hagan, Ferris, etc.) will be asked to send a separate letter through the Development and Alumni Relations office informing the donor about what was especially meaningful about your experience, how this has reaffirmed or changed your career plans, what lessons you learned, and what you plan to do upon graduation. Your bio, the report you submit to your hosting institution and any photos you may have taken will accompany this acknowledgement letter. Sending acknowledgements helps to provide thanks and stewardship to SAIS's donors. Evaluations are critical program planning tools. Failing to complete the internship evaluation survey by October 1, 2009 will result in the amount of the grant award being charged back to the final student account prior to receiving your graduation clearance. C. Dornsife
7/30/08 update
Past Internships Sponsored by SIP: Internships sponsored by SIP for Summer 2009 click here Internships sponsored by SIP for Summer 2008 click here Internships sponsored by SIP for Summer 2007 click here
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