Request for Proposal:
Proposals for the 2024 summer interns are due Friday, February 2nd, 2024. Proposals should include a detailed description of the project you’d like an MBA intern to work on for the summer. Plan to have the student work full-time for 10 weeks. If selected, one of our donors will make a donation to your organization to cover the intern salary at $20/hr for a total of $8,000.
Criteria for Eligibility for Internship for Credit Program:
- Project should build upon or extend the student's first year learning and student career goals. For example, core coursework includes marketing, operations, human resources, organizational analysis, finance, accounting, data analysis, not-for-profit management, and systems management.
- There is an opportunity for the student to solve an organizational or departmental problem.
- The internship is typically project-based. In other words, at the end of the summer, the student should have something tangible to show how they added value to your organization. Ideally, the internship enables the student to add 2-3 accomplishments to their resume.
- The internship presents the opportunity to interface with upper management. Ideally, there is ongoing dialogue during the summer and the student has the opportunity to present the project to the management team at the end of the summer.
- Business plans for a new venture or remote work locations are not eligible for internships for credit as part of the experience is to get immersed in organizational culture.
Proposal Elements:
- Applicants are welcome to use this template or your own job description with the following information:
- Detailed description of the project(s) the student will be responsible for during the summer
- Additional elements included in the internship that speaks to the criteria for credit eligibility, for example, monthly brown bag meetings with various managers.
- Qualifications required or preferred from applicants. Note all applicants will be first year MBA students with a variety of backgrounds and experiences.
- We will post the internship on our job/internship posting site (Handshake). We then typically batch applicant resumes and cover letters and send them to you immediately after our posting deadline date.
- Contact information for the key contact for this proposal.
Candidate Selection Process:
- January 3: Proposals available and sent to nonprofit leaders
- February 2: Proposals due from not-for-profits and sent to donor
- February 16: Notification of selections made to not-for-profits
- February 16 to February 29: Internships posted for student applications
- February 22: Nonprofit Internship Panel - meet the candidates in person during Pace Class
All recipients should plan on attending a panel on Thursday, March 22nd from 9am to 10am in class to meet the candidates, talk about the nonprofit sector, and answer questions - February 29: Student applications sent to not-for-profits
- March 15: Deadline for completion: candidate interviews off campus or remote
- March 15: Final selection of intern due to candidate and Willamette
- May 6 - June 1: Student begins working and donation is secured
Summer Internship Logistics:
- April: An introduction will be made to your donor and the non-profit will send an invoice to the donor for the amount of $8000
- May: The donor will provide a donation of $8000 to cover the salary for the intern for 10 weeks at $20/hr
- May 6 – August 23: Willamette’s summer vacation . The Intern will work full-time for 10 weeks at $20/hr ($8000). Start and end date can be negotiated with the student within this time-frame as long as the student is working a total of 400 hours.
Not-for-Profit Partners will pay the intern during the summer in the manner which they normally would hire a temporary worker.
Students are required to enroll in an internship class and will be mentored by a Faculty Internship Advisor throughout the summer. - June 1 - June 14: The student’s first deliverable is due 2 weeks after starting their internship. The student is required to develop a detailed position plan for the summer. We highly suggest that the student work with you to develop the plan which outlines the project timeline, expectations, and deliverables for the internship.
Internship Supervisor and Student Commitment to the School:
- May - Supervisor will be contacted by faculty at the beginning of the summer who will outline responsibilities and expectations of the student.
- July - Faculty will request a visit with the supervisor mid-summer, typically July and would like to take a photo and/or video of the student and the supervisor in their workplace.
- August - Near the end of the internship, the supervisor will give the student a formal performance appraisal in person giving the student both positive feedback as well as constructive criticism to improve their performance. Please use whatever forms you usually use for your own staff. We do have a sample form if you prefer.
- August - At the end of the internship, faculty will ask the supervisor to complete an online survey for our assurance of learning commitment. This gives our curriculum committee valuable feedback to improve our core coursework.
- August: In addition to the regular course requirements, the student will be asked to draft a memo to the donor outlining the value they were able to add to your organization and what they learned.