IDEV Summer Internship Program (SIP) 2013
Rules, Procedures, and Deadlines
We welcome IDEV students to participate in the 2013 Summer Internship Program (SIP). This year we will be offering approximately twenty internship grants to work with a with a range of partner institutions in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Approximately a dozen internships will be program-arranged; the remainder will be self-identified by IDEV students.
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
Internship Job Descriptions
Past Internships Sponsored by SIP
IDEV students may apply for TWO SIP internships. We will be pleased to discuss the openings with you to help you determine which opportunity best fits your interests and career goals. Bologna Center students may speak with Ann Gagliardi in Career Services about the SIP Program. If you are only seriously interested in one program-arranged internship, please only apply for that opportunity.
Grant awards this year will again be $3,000 per internship for summer 2013. 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 opportunities may not be exactly what individual students are looking for, all IDEV students interested in a summer internship should also be pursing other opportunities. For example, SAIS Career Services manages the Non Profit Leadership Development Initiative (NLDI) and also summer internship fund grant awards that are separate from the IDEV SIP. They have their own rules, procedures and eligibility requirements. If you are awarded a SIP internship grant, and accept it, however, you are ineligible for a second career services internship grant. The guidelines for the 2013 Summer Internship Fund (SIF) and Nonprofit Leadership Development Initiative grant awards are expected to be posted by Career Services during the Fall 2012 semester.
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 IDEV SIP Review Committee and ---fill in hosting institution name -- Colleagues:
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 timeline and set of procedures:
Monday, September 10, 2012 - Complete the interest survey listing to indicate 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 (microfinance, advocacy, etc.). Ali will follow up with an email reminder in mid-September 2011 to all first year IDEV students requesting this information.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - IDEV Summer Internship Program 2012 Briefing, 12:30 - 1:45pm in BOB 500. Ali Gross will be the moderator and panelists will include Setu Van Lare, Associate Director Career Services and a number of SIP 2012 interns. This event will be video recorded and shared with Bologna students.
September, 2012 - IDEV Summer Internship Program Briefing 2012 at the BOLOGNA CENTER (exact time and date for SIP briefing TBC). An overview will be provided by Cinnamon Dornsife followed by a Q&A.
December 2012 - All confirmed 2011 SIP internship opportunities will be posted on the IDEV web site (due to unforeseen delays, some internship descriptions are not posted, but are still expected.)
Friday, January 4, 2013 - Deadline for written applications from all students in DC and Bologna (resume and cover letter). E-mail applications to Katherine Diefenbach (kdiefen1@jhu.edu) with a copy to Cinnamon Dornsife (cdornsife@jhu.edu), Julia Smearman (jsmearman1@gmail.com).
SAIS/Bologna tudents should also send copies to Ann Gagliardi (agagliardi@johnshopkins.it)
Friday, January 25, 2013 - Meeting of the SIP review panel. Top candidates and hosting institutions will be notified no later than January 25, 2013.
January 28 - February 15, 2013 - Hosting institutions are strongly encouraged to interview their chosen candidates in January - February, 2013. Interviews are optional and scheduled at the discretion of the hosting institution. 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 intuition's next choice.
March 1, 2013 - 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 $3,000 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 goals 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, 2013. A written announcement will be made at that time.
April 2013 (tbc) - PRACTICAL RESEARCH MINI-SEMINAR, 9:00am - 12:00pm (DC time). IDEV will again offer the 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 a 2013 SIP internship - either program-vetted or self-identified - who have not taken the Practical Research Methods class. The PRM Mini-Seminar will be video-conferenced to Bologna students (3 - 6pm Bologna time). Please plan ahead - save the date!
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:
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 2012 Summer Internship Program is required to write an evaluation. The career service on line evaluation tool, through the SAISworks profile, is designed to help you 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, 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, a brief report of your internship and the hosting institution as well as any photos you may have taken will accompany this acknowledgement letter. Sending acknowledgements helps to provide thanks and stewardship to SAIS's donors. Thank you letters, bio, pictures, and brief report must be submitted no later than Friday, August 24, 2012. Evaluations are critical program planning tools. Failing to complete the online internship evaluation survey by Friday, September 7, 2012 will result in the amount of the grant award being charged back to the final student account prior to receiving your graduation clearance.
Internship Job Descriptions
The 2012 internship job descriptions are available here.
Last updated 8/13/2012.
Past Internships Sponsored by SIP:
Internships sponsored by SIP for Summer 2011
Internships sponsored by SIP for Summer 2010
Internships sponsored by SIP for Summer 2009
Internships sponsored by SIP for Summer 2008