Internship Assistance Proposal
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Revision as of 10:18, 5 December 2006
Robert Morris University Student Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery
Sushil Acharya, Faculty Advisor Anthony Mastrean, Chair Ryan Hendrickson, Vice Chair
December 5, 2006
Contents |
Mission Statement
The Internship Assistance project is designed to collect and distribute information on reputable internships in software engineering or information technology in the greater Pittsburgh area. The project will pair students looking for internships with those who have completed one for discussion and assistance.
The Internship Assistance project will support the professional and academic community that exists between engineering and information technology students. It will also increase the value of a student’s experience at RMU. This project will eventually affect the operation of the RMU Career Center and may eliminate the need for the RMU Student Chapter of the ACM to continue the program.
Project Profile Overview
Scope
The first phase of this project will require the simple collection of internship opportunities in the software engineering and information technology fields within the greater Pittsburgh area. More than likely, this information will come from upperclassmen that have completed an internship with the company.
The ACM will compile this information, keep it up to date, and stay in contact with the companies to ensure their continued participation. Students will be able to contact the other students who have completed an internship at a particular company. The end result is to foster communication between students about the roles, requirements, and merits of particular internships.
Deliverables include
- (get Career Center documents)
Phase 2 will consist of collaboration with the RMU Career Center to implement the Phase 1 materials into their normal operations.
Schedule
Phase 1 should be an ongoing implementation, although the RMU Student Chapter of the ACM would like to have enough material to have an official project meeting and release a document by midterm of the Spring 2007 semester [get date].
Phase 2 should see initial implementation by the time registration for the summer semester begins [get date]. The preparation in Phase 1 should allow quick assimilation of the documents into the Career Center’s normal materials.
Costs
The only cost associated with this project is time. RMU Student Chapter of the ACM members and officers will be compiling the documentation. They will use some sort of documentation system, whether Microsoft Word or Excel, which is already available at no extra cost.
Risks
The only risk is non-acceptance of the material by the Career Center.
Target Customers
This project has one main customer, students, and one secondary customer, Career Center staff.
“Student” describes any person enrolled at RMU that requires credits for an internship in software engineering or information technology. They will be the customer of the raw information from Phase 1 as well as peer-to-peer assistance.
“Career Center staff” describes anyone who has responsibility in maintaining internship opportunities, communication with companies for such opportunities, and facilitating the finding of an internship for a student. They will be the customer of the refined deliverables, as stated for Phase 2.
Needs
The project will require the input of students who have taken an internship at a reputable company which has been considered adequate to meet the requirements of RMU. Also required is the participation of upperclassmen in discussing various facets of the internship requirement with underclassmen. Facilities are assumed to be reasonably available for meetings (student lounge, John Jay conference center, or less formal areas such as the Market Place).
These inputs will be best put to use if the Career Center documentation is followed as a template. This will facilitate acceptance of the materials in Phase 2.
Satisfaction Measures
Phase 1 participation, by students seeking internship assistance, will be measured directly. The RMU Student Chapter of the ACM will be involved in each of these cases and can simply track the number of students engaging the system. The usefulness of this project can be gauged through student feedback and the number of students accepted for internship positions directly through project information.
Phase 2 successes can be measured in a similar fashion, although company feedback will be incorporated as part of the normal internship process.
Key Technology
The project relies on no particular technology. A simple mechanism for storing the raw internship data will suffice (Microsoft Word or Excel files in a shared or limited access file system or email account). The faculty advisor for the RMU Student Chapter of the ACM can store this information on a permanent basis and it can be distributed as necessary or stored on the chapter email account semi-permanently.
Operational Requirements
None.
Critical Project Constraints
Performance
The project needs to be built on comprehensive documentation so that Phase 2 acceptance is as smooth and quick as possible.
Ease of Use
Volumes
Provided enough information is gathered on internship opportunities, the chapter is going to need enough participants willing to discuss the information with other the students. From previous available data, we assume about 10 students per semester participate in internships. We would expect input for at least 70% of them (considering reputable, value added internships only). We would hope all students looking for internships would use the chapter system and eventually the Career Center resources.
Key Financial Indicators
None.
