SEAHO Report - Winter 2018 - 47

SEAHO Features

References
Boone, Corrie (Unlisted Information). What is Racial Justice? - Lesson for Kids. Retrieved from
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-racial-justice-lesson-for-kids.html
Kivel, P. (2017) Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice. Gabriola Island, BC. New
Society Publishers'.
Heaney, Erin (Unlisted Information). Showing Up for Racial Justice. Retrieved from
http://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/about
Book: "Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice"

The Graduate Employee's Role
with Onboarding and Supporting an Intern
By Mitchell Furtner, Florida Southern College

Graduate students pursuing employment as a professional in the student affairs field are frequently encouraged
to find an internship during the summer of their graduate program. With many institutions hosting ACUHO-I
interns through the summer months, it is extremely important that student affairs professionals in the housing
and residence life field are able to adequately support an intern. Supervision of interns is a crucial part of
the internship experience, and many onboarding procedures include meetings with the supervisor to discuss
expectations and goals. The role of professional staff members is often defined or understood in an internship,
but where do current graduate employees in a host unit fit into the onboarding and employment period of an
intern? Although this question is often unanswered for relationships with an intern from any institution, the
author of this article focused on a graduate employee's role with the onboarding and employment period of an
intern coming from a different institution.
Intern Needs
According to Janosik, Cooper, Saunders, and Hirt (2015) an internship in student affairs needs to be designed
and structured with the following:
* Conducting a personal skills assessment
* Setting realistic expectations
* Developing a contract for the experience
* Understanding the roles and the pedagogy of the experience
* Identifying the resources necessary to conduct the experience
* Balancing the experience with other curriculum components and student lives (p. 31)
Many of these needs are met by professional staff members or the intern such as conducting a personal skills
assessment and developing a contract for the experience. However, graduate employees can, and arguable
should, take an active role in assisting the intern to set realistic expectations, understand the roles and the
pedagogy of the experience, identify the resources necessary to conduct the experience, and balance the
experience with other curriculum components and student lives.
While a site supervisor for an internship will be able to assist an intern in setting realistic expectations from
a supervisory and departmental level surrounding the position, tasks, and special assignments, a graduate
employee may be able to assist in other ways. Graduate employees will be able to help the intern understand the
politics within an office or department that may make some of the expectations difficult to come true. Graduate
employees are also likely to be able to provide insight on many day to day roadblocks and ways to overcome
these barriers to achieve desired goals.
47

SEAHO Report Winter 2018

https://www.study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-racial-justice-lesson-for-kids.html http://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/about

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEAHO Report - Winter 2018