[Coral-List] 'Internships'

[Dennis Hubbard]

Hi all:

I've been seeing a lot of posts on this topic and was wondering where the
discussion might be headed; sorry if I missed that entry. Do we have the
power to determine a legal definition for an internship or to influence
what those offering them can call such instruments.

Dennis

On Fri, Mar 17, 2017 at 1:36 PM, Lili Jones <Acropora at protonmail.com> wrote:

> Nicole Crane said, "Ok everyone, please provide YOUR exact definition of
> an internship."
>
> We could start with the definition Wikipedia gives for "Internship"
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internship
>
> or the online dictionary definition,
>
> http://www.dictionary.com/browse/internship?s=t
>
> I know some of us don't like Wikipedia, but if you take a look at the
> references, that's a pretty good place to follow up the reading of the
> article.
>
> What might be interesting is if some of you academicians for marine
> laboratories got together at one of the big science conferences and
> declared a formal definition to be adopted by all marine laboratories. The
> Association of Marine Laboratories of the Caribbean and other similar
> organizations could be in on the meeting, too. In addition to "Internship,"
> other similar (but misleading, at times) suggestions for nomenclature might
> be adopted. Maybe there would be subgroupings of internships so as to make
> the designation clearer for the proposed activity.
>
> Or maybe coral-list is where we decide this?
>
> Lili
> ...................................................................
>
> Subject:Re: [Coral-List] 'Internships'
> From:Nicole Crane <nicrane at cabrillo.edu>
> Date:3/17/17, 11:59 AM
>
> To:Will Nuckols <wnuckols at erols.com>
> CC: "steven.carrion" <steven.carrion at knights.ucf.edu>, "
> s1681966 at sms.ed.ac.uk" <s1681966 at sms.ed.ac.uk>, Coral -List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
>
> Ok everyone, please provide YOUR exact definition of an internship.  I
> have yet to find one that meets these criteria (below).  Mentored, unpaid
> or minimally paid work in marine stations or with organizations serving
> marine causes around here (Monterey and Santa Cruz California) are
> advertised as internships often.  Those are usually unpaid but do not
> require students to pay.  But WAIT.  Those students still need to pay for
> their gas, food, their own rent and any other expenses.  Why is that
> different than offering the exact same type of experience but in a remote
> location where they ALSO have to pay those costs, but they happen to be
> more expensive.  If we take the actual work they do, the description of the
> actual internship out of those costs, I am still not sure how they differ..
> Will, you offer some fancy distinctions below between different kinds of
> activities.  Honestly, if a student came to me looking for resume and skill
> building opportunities, I would not know how to wade through them.  This:
> "If a student undertakes an opportunity and supports themselves while
> giving to a worthy cause, that is an act of charity, not an internship”.
> Really?  always? What if they support themselves through an unpaid job
> experience that is also a worthy cause, also builds a resume, also provides
> valuable skills, and hey, how about one that also provides units? (Our
> school specifically has internships, some of which are PAID and through a
> special agreement with employers also provide units towards their degree)..
> How do we define those?
>
> I suggest we not try and define these by things like “an act of charity’
> implying in a way that students who do these might be among the wealthy who
> just want to participate in charity programs to make themselves and perhaps
> their family feel good.  That feels so insulting.  I have many students who
> participate in exactly these kinds of activities who are UNDERserved but
> benefit immensely from the skills, and the exposure to potential jobs they
> may not ever have been exposed to.
>
> These opportunities, ALL of them, are about opening up doors for young
> people.  Please let’s do whatever we can to open as many of those doors as
> possible?
> Nicole
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-- 
Dennis Hubbard
Chair, Dept of Geology-Oberlin College Oberlin OH 44074
(440) 775-8346

* "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
 Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"