centerNet Interships
A discussion document. This document is not policy of centerNet, it has been written for discussion. It has no status at this point.
Idea
centerNet can imagine a number of opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to get involved in the community. We call these "internships" and they could be paid or (more likely) unpaid. These opportunities would help build the community and provide the intern with experience working in the community. The intern would have a chance to work with a centerNet centre or with a senior member of the community. The intern would be given public credit for the work done and be in a position to make a difference.
Process
The following is proposed process for developing meaningful internships, managing them, and acknowledging the contributions.
- Ideas for potential internships would go to the Steering Committee of centerNet for approval. Proposals would only be approved if they had a sponsoring supervisor, were meaningful to centerNet, meaningful for the intern, doable with the resources and time available, and designed to provide experience and recognition to the intern. Some examples are given below as are guidelines for proposals.
- Approved internships would be assigned to a centerNet leader capable of supervising the work and supporting the project.
- Approved internships would be advertised widely and candidates encouraged to contact the sponsoring supervisor.
- Supervisors would be expected to select an appropriate intern or interns and to support them. Supervisors would be expected to provide feedback to the interns and to be prepared to write an evaluation letter for the intern at the end of the project addressed to parties selected by the intern.
- Interns who complete projects will be recognized both in any materials that are generated by the project and by centerNet. Internship materials would be expected to be released under a Creative Commons license that allows them to be updated by centerNet after the project is over as long as due recognition is always provided to the original intern.
- The Steering Committee will solicit feedback from both the supervisor and interns at the end of the project. Feedback from the interns would be independent of the sponsor to improve the program and to provide interns with a chance to respond to issues that might come up.
Possible Internships
- centerNet News: an intern would take responsibility to manage a news feed about centerNet projects and related subjects for one year.
- Digital Humanities Centres Overview: an intern would gather documents about digital humanities centres and institutes like mission statements, organizational documents, and funding sources in a format that would assist new centres. These materials would form the primary sources for a report on digital humanities centres which, if suitable, would be submitted for publication.
- centerNet Wiki: an intern would canvas centerNet members on the design and content of a common wiki. The intern would create the structure and primary documents for the wiki. The intern would facilitate the participation of others in building the wiki.
Internship Proposal Guidelines
centerNet members proposing an Internship for approval by the Steering Committee should submit the proposal to Geoffrey Rockwell. Proposals should cover the following:
- Who is the sponsor who will take responsibility for supervising the intern?
- What is the timeline for the internship?
- How many interns are needed or can be accomodated?
- What is the task that the intern will complete? What would be the outcomes of a successful internship and how would they be evaluated?
- How will the task be recognized?
- Why is this meaningful for candidate interns? What will they learn? How will this provide useful experience?
- Why is this meaningful for centerNet? How will this build the community? What follow on projects might be imagined?
- How should candidates apply?
- What support will the intern need to complete the task and where will the sponsor secure such support? How will the work be maintained?
