Faculty & staff guide
This internship guide is designed to support Faculty Internship Supervisors, Department Chairs & Program Directors, Internship Coordinators & Academic Advisors and Department Administration & Program Assistants, in supervising high-quality internships that align with our academic mission, advance students’ career aspirations, and deliver value to host organizations.
Overview
Internships bridge academia and industry, offering students invaluable work experience while enriching their academic learning. As a faculty member or a staff in the Faculty of Arts, you play a pivotal role in guiding students through internship experiences that can be transformative—not only for them but also for the organizations hosting them.
This guide serves as a practical resource to help:
- Clarify roles and responsibilities among faculty supervisors, students, and host organizations
- Streamline administrative processes for approving, monitoring, and evaluating internships
- Enhance student learning through frameworks that connect internship experiences with academic reflection and skill development
- Promote best practices by offering strategies to build strong partnerships with employers
- Address common challenges that arise during internship coordination
- Cultural institution placements at museums, galleries, and public arts organizations.
- Industry partnerships: Collaborations with design studios, theaters, film production houses, and digital media firms.
- Faculty-led initiatives: Studio apprenticeships, grant-funded creative projects, and other skill-based placements where students apply disciplinary knowledge (e.g., curatorial work, community arts collaborations).
- Competitive awards & funding: Faculty of Fine Arts offers several internship awards, including:
- The Elspeth McConnell Fine Arts Awards
- BMO Fine Arts Internship Program
- SHIFT Funding for community-engaged internships
- Mitacs Accelerate for research-based placements
- Canada Summer Jobs, Young Canada Works, or other external grants
Limited capacity and resources: Faculty and staff often juggle multiple responsibilities (teaching, research, administration), leaving limited time to support or supervise internships. There might be a lack of dedicated administrative support for coordinating placements, especially in smaller departments.
Difficulty securing suitable placements: Finding host organizations aligned with students’ diverse artistic disciplines and learning goals can be challenging. Some creative industries may have limited capacity to host interns due to funding or space constraints.
Varying quality of learning experiences: Internship tasks may not always align with academic learning outcomes.
Barriers to equitable access: Faculty and staff often want to help students find paid opportunities, but such placements can be limited in the arts sector.
Navigating institutional policies: Confusion around departmental procedures, credit structures, and internship course requirements.
Assessment and evaluation challenges: Unclear criteria for evaluating student learning and site performance.
- Building and maintaining long-term partnerships: Sustaining relationships with community organizations over time requires ongoing effort, which may be difficult without dedicated support or incentives.
Addressing these challenges requires ongoing collaboration among faculty, staff, students, and community partners. While resource limitations and structural barriers persist, there is a shared commitment across the Faculty of Fine Arts to support students in accessing meaningful, equitable and professionally enriching internship experiences.
Steps to guide your student's internship program
Discover the different steps and phases to your student's internship program and your responsibilities as a faculty supervisor to guide the experience.
In this phase, the objective is to ensure that students are well-prepared before starting their internship.
Faculty responsibilities
- Explain internship objectives, expectations and evaluation criteria
- Provide an overview of the internship process and timelines
- Guide students in setting SMART learning objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound)
- Assist and ensure students complete necessary paperwork (agreements)
- Support students in connecting with industry partners aligned with their career goals
In this phase, the objective is to monitor progress and provide support to ensure a meaningful learning experience.
Faculty responsibilities
- Structured, reflective check-ins through periodic meetings (in-person or virtual) to discuss challenges, progress and key learnings that foster deeper self-assessment and continuous improvement
- Liaise with industry supervisors to track student performance
- Conduct midterm evaluations by reviewing student progress against initial goals and provide feedback
In this phase, the objective is to help students reflect on their experience and leverage it for future career growth and academic integration.
Faculty responsibilities
- Guide students in preparing internship reports and presentations.
- Encourage them to reflect on skills gained and areas for improvement.
- Collect internship supervisor evaluations and other reports to review student performance.
- Discuss how the internship aligns with future career paths and perspectives on academic journey.
- Encourage students to maintain professional connections from the internship.
- Invite students to share experiences with peers in seminars and workshops.
Best practices for a successful internship program
Key strategies to ensure a smooth, impactful, and well-structured internship program for all stakeholders.
- Ensure internships complement the curriculum and enhance students’ career readiness.
- Provide students with a guidebook outlining expectations, deadlines, and evaluation criteria.
- Build relationships with organizations to secure diverse, high-quality internship opportunities.
- Standardize assessments based on learning objectives, supervisor feedback, and student deliverables.
- Host post-internship discussions for students to share experiences and lessons learned
- The faculty supervisor and site supervisor must be two different individuals. Program Coordinator or Chair could step in.
- In exceptional circumstances it may be appropriate to visit internship sites to assess working conditions and student progress.
Assessment and success metrics
To ensure a meaningful and productive internship experience for both students and faculty members, it’s important to establish clear assessment criteria and success metrics.
Below, you’ll find evaluation forms, rubrics, and other essential documents to guide you in monitoring student progress, providing constructive feedback, and measuring the overall success of the internship program. These resources are designed to streamline the evaluation process and support consistent, objective assessments.
Resources
To support the successful implementation of internships, Concordia offers a variety of tools and offices dedicated to fostering industry-academic partnerships.
Below are key resources to assist faculty and staff in facilitating high-quality internship experiences:
CEWIL Canada
A national organization championing best practices in work-integrated learning (WIL) for post-secondary institutions. CEWIL provides valuable guidelines, definitions and frameworks for connecting students with industry opportunities.
Student final report form
Your student will fill complete and submit this report on their internship experience.
Supervisor evaluation template
Use this rubric to evaluate the behaviour, performance and provide comments about your student's internship.
