Well-designed internship and leadership experiences provide pathways for college students to make a difference in their communities and in the lives of others. Drawing from Leadership & Community Service-Learning’s commitment to the many communities in our area, the Work4Change program provides University of Maryland undergraduate students with the unique opportunity to integrate socially responsible leadership and civic engagement through service-learning within both an academic leadership course and an internship at a local community agency.
Are you interested in gaining practical work experience?
Are you looking for ways to engage with the community to address important issues?
Are you ready to develop your socially responsible leadership skills through active learning?
Are you interested in putting your passions to work?
Are you interested in developing a relationship with other student change agents on campus?
These are just some of the things that the Work4Change program will enable you to experience as a member of the student cohort.
Purpose
To prepare students for socially-responsible leadership in the world of work through interdisciplinary learning focused on:
- Personal and multicultural development
- Understanding organizational structures and complex systems in a shared leadership world
- Civic engagement, asset-based sustainable community, and leadership for social change
Are you looking for assistance with identifying an internship experience?
- Participants will take part in an internship experience during the Fall 2013 semester.
- Staff will work with you to find an internship experience exploring socially responsible leadership and your personal career goals.
- Learn how to build and polish your resume and take advantage of the resources and networks of local communities.
- Work4Change students will learn about asset-based community development, service-learning, leadership in the workplace, and leadership for social change while enrolled in EDCP318Z in the Fall semester.
- Students will delve into various leadership styles, practices, and ideas through their course work to develop their own ideas and leadership style and apply these to their internship sites.
Spring Semester I (immediately after program participate selection)
Career Development Preparation and Internship Selection:
Students will work individually with program coordinators to develop their resume and cover letter, practice interview skills, and seek assistance in locating and securing an internship at a local community service agency.
Fall Semester
Academic Course (EDCP 318Z – Socially-Responsible Leadership and Internship - 3 credit course). Course meets on Tuesdays from 3:00-5:00pm.
Course goals include:
- Gain a better understanding of the nature and complexity of leadership, including its inter-disciplinary and global nature.
- Understand the importance of self-knowledge and its relationship to group processes.
- Understand gender and cultural influences on groups, organizations, and communities.
- Develop competencies in asset-based community development, socially responsible leadership, leadership in the workplace, ethics in leadership, and service-learning.
- Recognize their responsibility to participate in their own communities and in the broader society.
- Help clarify career goals and aspirations as a result of engagement in community action through the internship experience.
- Understand one's own leadership potential.
Internship Experience (6-10 hours per week for a minimum of 75 hours)
The internship component focuses on learning about leadership through active participation in sustainable community development. Internship sites will be identified that match both program goals and individual student career interests and personal passions. Community agencies may focus on issues of the environment, education, poverty, hunger and homelessness, healthcare, and social justice, to just name a few.
How to Join the Program
There is no application process. Interested students should contact the program for an interest and intake conversation to determine personal goals and start the process for participation.
Approximately five to ten students will be selected to join the cohort for Fall 2013.
For more information and to schedule an interest and intake conversation, contact Deborah Slosberg at Slosberg@umd.edu or Daniel Ostick at dostick@umd.edu.
