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Information and Guidelines for Companies
1 - Internship Programme Background
The impact of the decrease in graduate numbers choosing specific ICT
courses over the past three years is of concern to the ICT industry in
matching its future skills and resource requirements. There are a
number of existing industry-wide initiatives addressing this problem on
a short-term ongoing basis but there is an opportunity for industry to
address this on a medium- to long-term basis in collaboration with the
education sector.
The new ICT Ireland Undergraduate Internship Programme has been
designed to address the issue. This programme, which is being run in
association with the Higher Education Authority, is an ICT
industry-wide programme involving a two-day week placement for
undergraduates in the third and fourth year of degree courses across a
range of specified ICT disciplines, e.g. electronic engineering and
computer science. It is envisaged that the proposed ICT Internship
Programme will provide a pipeline of graduates for the ICT industry and
will develop valuable and practical skills for students.
The HEA has approved the proposal submitted by Dublin City University
(a joint proposal from Electronic Engineering and Physical Sciences) in
response to the call for participation in the Undergraduate Internship
Programme. The School of Electronic Engineering placed its first
internship students in September and October of 2005. The pilot phase
of the programme, for the academic year 2005/2006, involved the
BEng (Honours) in Electronic Engineering programme and subsequent years
have included the BEng (Honours) in Information and Communications
Engineering and BEng (Honours) in Digital Media Engineering in
the programme.
Companies may take part in the programme in either of two ways:
1) As a host company, providing placements for engineering students and/or
2) Releasing their own engineering employees for three days per week
during academic term time, to pursue a qualification to honours degree
level. This option would be contingent on the employee holding a
suitable qualification, allowing them to join the programme at 3rd year
degree level.
The School of Electronic Engineering, DCU, is a modern, dynamic,
engineering school with excellent teaching and learning facilities, a
strong research culture, and a history of close links and effective
cooperation with local industry. For over 15 years we have been
operating a very successful post-graduate taught programme catering for
both full-time and industry based part-time students. We have been able
to facilitate these students and employers by carefully timetabling
their employer’s needs within the working week and adopting a
pragmatic and flexible approach towards our interaction with companies.
We believe the new internship programme is an important initiative and
we will be drawing on our experience in academic/industry partnership
to implement the programme in a workable, practical and mutually
beneficial way.
2 - Internship Structure
The Internship structure, is implemented in the School of Electronic Engineering DCU, is outlined below:
- Interns work with the sponsoring company for 2 days per week during
the academic year. (Third year students work Thursdays and Fridays,
whilst fourth year students work Mondays and Tuesdays).
- The Internship spans 3rd and 4th years of the specified degree
programmes. The academic content of the programmes, the programme
timeframe and the level of award is designed to be identical for
students choosing the internship stream and for non-internship fulltime
students. Thus, internship students or student/employees must complete
their third and fourth year academic requirements within the normal
academic calendar. The academic year normally spans from the end of
September to the end of April, with first semester examinations held
towards the end of January and second semester examinations held
towards the end of May.
- A structure for study leave and time off for examinations will need
to be agreed with each company. This should be agreed for both
internship students and for student/employees.
- There will also be the option for the company to employ the student
intern over the summer period. This would be agreed by the company and
intern on an individual case basis but is not a requirement of the
programme.
- Companies will normally interview students for placement in their
companies between February and April of 2nd year. (The selection
process may continue over summer.)
- The university has in place an academic internship mentor, to act as
a contact point and advisor for students and to facilitate contact with
the company. We believe effective student support, to help with the
transition into an internship, is vital to the success of the
programme. A number of senior members of staff with extensive
industrial experience are assigned each year to mentor the students. In
line with normal work placement practice, the company will also
identify an in-company supervisor or mentor for students who
is briefed of the operation and objectives of the Internship
Programme.
- There will be an option for companies to specify a final year project
topic for their intern(s). The project would be approved and overseen
in conjunction with an academic supervisor in the university.
It is often feasible for projects to start in the summer of
third, in the case where the host company has chosen to keep the
student on between third and fourth years.
3 - Benefits of Programme to Host Companies
The student’s performance during the internship placement will be
assessed by the University and will form an integral part of their
degree award. As such, this assessment is expected to provide an extra
motivation for the student’s performance and achievement of goals
at work. The intership is worth the equivalent of 3 modules of work to
the student. For companies choosing to assign a final year project to
the student, an additional motivation is provided, as the project mark
is a large contributor (25%) towards the final degreee award.
Graduates will be available for work immediately once the placement
period has ended (after 4th year exams). This allows managers to be
ready to make offers to strong students, immediately at the end of the
programme. In addition, internship students can provide a convenient
pool of summer hires.
As the placement extends over a two year period, students can become
involved in longer term projects with the company.
Interns will be engaged in academic life in parallel to their
internship duties. This allows them to draw on academic resources as
they progress through the academic programme, helping them grow their
knowledge and expertise required for their placement duties.
4 - Benefits of Programme to Internship Students
Many graduates find it difficult breaking the
‘no-experience’ barrier when seeking their first job. The
Internship Programme will help to equip them with significant
industrial experience and professional skills to bolster their CV and
open up a wider range of employment opportunities.
Most undergraduates work on average 20 hours per week, to supplement
their incomes, in jobs that seldom have relevance to the course they
are studying. With the Internship Programme, they will be well-paid and
will work with first class employers gaining practical and relevant
skills, which will give them a head start in the job market and be of
benefit for the rest of their careers.
It can be difficult for students to relate theory with practice in an
industrial context. It is anticipated that the Internship Programme
will enhance appreciation and enjoyment of studies and clarify the
relevance and importance of the academic programme.
5 - Summary of Guidelines for Companies
The following are a series of guidelines regarding the operation of the
Internship Programme from the employer’s perspective.
- Interested companies should provide a brief job description or
description of the work area, candidate requirements, and expected
learning outcomes for the student. Approximate payment rates may
optionally be included. The university will then contact potential
candidates and forward CVs to the company. The company can subsequently
inform the university of their interest in particular candidates and
arrange interviews.
- The university requires that an employment contract is offered to
successful candidates and that a copy of the signed contract be lodged
with the university. There is no contract required between the company
and the university. Guidelines for operation of the programme are
agreed on a good faith basis.
- The contract will address working hours, annual leave, study leave,
payment etc. Contracts between the company and the student should
provide for no-fault let-out arrangements for both the company and the
student.
- The weekly workload specified in the contract should be such that the
students works no more that two consecutive regular working days per
week with the company. The university assumes and expects that the
workload will not exceed two days per week or twenty hours per week.
- The normal duration of employment is for two academic years. Study
and examination leave needs will be provided for. Typically where an
exam period lasts two weeks, study leave (unpaid or against accrued
holiday leave) prior to the start of the examinations should be
available to the student for a period of up to five days. For shorter
exam periods a pro-rata study period should apply.
- It is understood that there may be options for the company to employ
the intern student over the summer period, covered by a separate
contract. While we understand that the company and student will agree
this on an individual case basis, there may be need to be some
flexibility with such summer employment to allow specific students to
undertake repeat examinations.
- There should also be an option to offer students a one-month (or
agreed period of time) work placement before the internship starts to
familiarise them with the workplace.
- The company will pay students directly. This is the case with
existing undergraduate programmes. Minimum payment will be agreed by
the company, but will be on similar terms to the existing undergraduate
programmes in operation. (In terms of implications the payment may have
on the student grants, ICT Ireland will meet with Revenue to discuss
and develop a position on this.)
- Companies will abide by legislation regarding working hours and employment legislation.
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