Internship Program: The Office of Career Services

Contact

Office of Career Services

E-mail

914.395.2566

Internships provide Sarah Lawrence students a way to finesse their professional interests while they complete an enriching, interdisciplinary education. The Office of Career Services works closely with individual students to apply to and apply themselves at internships around the country. We continually hear from employers that our students exhibit a level of professionalism beyond their years, which we attribute to Sarah Lawrence’s 1:1 model.

As a college, we recognize that not all students have the privilege to complete internships, which are often unpaid opportunities. Addressing this inequity is of utmost importance to our community. We are grateful for our donors who have enabled our office to grant our students with various internship funding opportunities from our Fall/Spring travel stipend program to our popular summer internship grants. These opportunities allow our students to participate in experiential experiences that give them the foundation for success beyond Sarah Lawrence. More information about our specific funding opportunities can be found below.

Academic Credit for Internships

In order to maintain the rigor of their education, Sarah Lawrence students seeking academic credit for a fall, spring or summer internship are required to complete a practicum or fieldwork course. The Office of Career Services stays in close contact with each student’s employer, working in tandem with the faculty sponsor to make each internship a supervised learning experience.

Fieldwork, offered year-round, allows students to collaborate with a faculty sponsor to design and complete an independent study around their internship. The practicum courses, offered during the academic year, enable students to learn in a Socratic environment with peers also completing internships. Past practicum offerings include “Foundations in Workplace Culture and Wellbeing” and “SLCeeds: Ideas from Concept to Creation.”

Internship Travel Stipend

The Internship Travel Stipend Fund has been established to provide travel assistance to students receiving need-based financial aid from the college that are participating in unpaid internships during the academic year. Eligible students can receive a $450 travel stipend to help offset commuting costs. Students can apply for the stipend through the Office of Career Services.

Many students benefit from alumni-donated funds to support the commute to and from various internships in NYC, as well as the surrounding Westchester area.

Summer Funded Internship Opportunities

The Annette Cravens Fund for Visual Arts (Summer)

The Fund is established to support students seeking direct contact with works of art and material culture to complement their academic and professional goals. Cravens Internships are funded summer internships with the intention to offer students the opportunity to explore careers in the visual arts and gain valuable experience in museums, galleries, exhibition spaces, community centers, and similar cultural venues. Eligible students who have secured a visual arts internship will receive a $3,500 stipend.

Recent internship placements included: the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, White Columns, the International Print Center of New York, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Summer Science Externships/The Suzanne Salter Arkin Science Endowment

The Suzanne Salter Arkin Science Endowment is established to attract outstanding science students to the College who want to study science with the individual approach for which Sarah Lawrence is famous. The Endowment will support students participating in Summer Science Externships at major laboratories, hospitals, educational and research institutions, and companies in the New York area and beyond. Externs are selected by competitive application from the most advanced participants in the College's on-campus Summer Science Research Program or similar program, and must be serious in their desire to make science their life’s work. Following a successful externship, students may have the opportunity to continue their scientific work throughout the academic year. Accepted students will receive a $4,000 stipend which will support them during this opportunity for meaningful undergraduate research. Acceptance will be need-, sex-, and ethnicity-blind.

For more information regarding this Externship funding, please contact Dress Cressman, Department of Biology at dcressma@sarahlawrence.edu.

Virtual Internships

As a result of the COVID-19 health crisis, many in-person internship programs have pivoted to a remote structure. The Office of Career Services is here to support our students navigate these new circumstances. As a start, we have created considerations for students before they accept remote opportunities. Career advisers are available to discuss these standards, as well as help students find virtual opportunities to apply to.

Criteria for Virtual/Remote-based Internships:
  • The internship description and communication from employer should clearly state:
    • Description of intern responsibilities with clear expectations and deliverables
    • The type of training provided and how training will be provided
  • Supervision/mentoring provided including the communication plan with preferred methods of communication:
    • Number of hours the intern will be working on projects per week
    • Number of direct supervision/mentoring hours the intern will be provided per week
    • Methods of communication: Email, Phone conferences, Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom, etc.
    • Schedule/process for checking in with supervisor regarding progress reports (i.e., daily, weekly, etc.)
    • Clear commitment of time and technology/tools required of intern
    • Opportunities to present work and/or collaborate with other employees
  • There should be clearly defined learning objectives/goals related to the professional goals of the student’s academic coursework.
  • There is routine feedback by the experienced supervisor.