Method of Assessment / Credits
This blog post is of considerable length, however a few of your classmates have inquired as to how they are assessed during their internship, and we thought this information is beneficial for you right now. Please take the time to become familiar of what is expected of you to pass this component of your MBA program.
Upon completion of the internship and submission of the required documents (final report, sponsor evaluation form and the ‘Internship/Entrepreneurial Project Summary’) an intern will receive 1.5 credits for successful completion of the internship. The intern’s final report will be evaluated by the faculty supervisor based on how effective the internship experience has been in assisting the intern in learning how theory can be put into practice, the quality of technical analysis in the report, the usefulness of the report to the sponsoring organization, and the overall quality of writing in the report. The company supervisor will complete and submit the sponsor evaluation form evaluating the student’s performance during the internship. This evaluation, combined with your final report & student summary submission on Connect, will be used by the faculty supervisor to assign a pass or fail grade.
Requirements for Credited Academic programs
According to the Canadian education norm and UBC Senate Requirements, when practical experiences are part of an academic curriculum the following three factors are required:
· Each student must be assigned to a faculty supervisor;
· Students must produce written reports for progress checks and grading purposes;
· An evaluation process must take place between the educational institution and the employer organization.
In addition to the above academic requirements, a Sauder MBA intern must adhere to the following:
· Professional conduct with the sponsoring organization and its clients;
· Due diligence on the project and assignments;
· Two submitted written reports: the interim report and the final report. Please note that the content of both the interim and final reports will vary depending on the nature of the internship.
· Submission of the ‘Internship/Industry Project Summary’ via the Historical Database on Connect by the indicated deadline date (September 9, 2013).
Student’s Responsibilities
Reports
Individual internships are unique and the structure of the interim and final reports will vary. You should discuss the structure with your Faculty Supervisor. Below we list two possible alternative structures for both the Interim and Final reports. Structure A is suitable for internships requiring you to be involved in a number of different projects, perhaps working as part of a team. Structure B fits internships where the output is a report you produce for the employer, analyzing a particular business problem.
The Interim Report
Structure A:
The interim report should outline the structure of the final report and include whatever details are available at the time. It should be three-five pages. There is no grade assigned to the interim report, but it is a requirement for successful completion of your internship. The report is submitted to your faculty supervisor by a mutually agreed upon date. Your faculty supervisor will provide feedback on the interim report if they see weaknesses.
You need to include the following in the interim report:
1. An executive summary (two pages or less) that describes the internship project, the company, and your responsibilities and duties.
2. A statement of the prior academic learning that you have been able to apply at the internship site;
3. A statement of the academic learning that you have had through your internship;
4. A brief statement of any problems, concerns, or issues that you feel need to be raised to the attention of your faculty supervisor;
5. An overview of your final internship report and an overview of the structure you hope to follow, the issues you hope to raise and the way in which you will deal with these issues.
Structure B:
Consider the interim report to be an intermediate stage to producing the final report (see below). The interim report should briefly describe what you are doing in the internship and specify the analysis that you will deliver in the final report (this can be a “good” outline).
The interim report should be no longer than five pages in length, double-spaced and word-processed.
The Final Report
The final report is generally a ten to fifteen page, double-spaced typed report submitted to your Faculty Supervisor by a mutually agreed upon date. Confirm with your Faculty Supervisor on expectations and details of the final submission as each Career Track has specific preferences for the length of your final paper.
The Summary Submission for Online Database
A record of internship summaries is collected each year and offered to students to aid in their internship exploration. In addition to the Final Report, you must submit a summary of your experience outlining the project deliverable and a personal view of the overall internship. Feel free to summarize from your Interim report as well as adding personal reflections.
The guidelines for the final report include the following:
Structure A:
1. A brief executive summary that describes the duties, the company, and your responsibilities. Include contact information for your company supervisor, including name, phone number, address, and e-mail, if applicable;
2. A summary of one major project that you were responsible for. If you did not have one major project, include a description of the tasks, activities, and deliverables for which you were personally responsible.
Be clear to differentiate your role from the group if you are working within a group setting. You may include copies of deliverables you prepared as appendices to the report, if you feel they help in assessing your contribution or if they add clarification to the project (keep these to a minimum, however);
3. A statement of the prior academic learning that you have been able to apply at the internship site;
4. A statement of the academic learning that you received through your internship;
5. A brief statement of any problems, concerns, or issues that you feel need to be raised to the attention of your faculty supervisor.
Structure B:
In some cases, interns will analyze a business problem and provide the results of the analysis to the employer in the form of a written report. In these cases, the final report may be all or part of what you turn in to your employer. Discuss this with your faculty supervisor ahead of time to clarify his/her expectations.
While there are many forms the report may take, it is likely to have this basic structure:
1. Define a business problem;
2. Formulate different alternatives to “solve” the problem;
3. Recommend the best alternative.
Any further questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact your Career Manager at the BCC or Carly Boettcher, Graduate Careers Administrator at carly.boettcher@sauder.ubc.ca
