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Sunday, 25 October 2009 23:04

CIP2

Written by CCSI Content Team

The Caribbean Internship Project (CIP) provides a unique opportunity for students and graduates of tertiary institutions in the Caribbean to explore their talents and capacities in order to grow in terms of self esteem and professionalism and ultimately realise their potential.

The CIP can offer the students of regional institutions additional experience, exposure and leadership development while at the same time earning course credits. The contributions of student interns placed throughout the region to the various developmental agencies have already proven to be very valuable.

The CIP began in 2004 as a partnership between the Centre for Population Community and Social Change, (CPCSC), at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, Jamaica, and the Barbados-based Caribbean Child Support Initiative, (CCSI). The CIP was developed to assist the CCSI in supporting and impacting Parent and Early Childhood Development (ECD) initiatives in the Caribbean region.

The Centre for Population Community and Social Change (CPCSC) is an outreach thrust of the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the UWI, Mona, and was formally launched in 1995 to address factors that retard human development in the Caribbean. The Centre’s strategies include research, advocacy, training and outreach and intervention.
The UWI Mona has been working in collaboration with the UWI St. Augustine and Cave Hill campuses, the University of Belize and the University of Guyana to assign student interns as part of a regional response to the problems faced by child-focused agencies in the region.

 

Goal

The overall goal of the CIP is to match resources of regional universities to the needs of local partner agencies with relevant mandates, capacity and services delivered to parents and children.

Objectives

(1) To improve the mechanisms to match needs and resources, which involves:
(a) Building partnerships between the three University of the West Indies campuses and regional universities
(b) institutionalising the CIP within the UWI for sustainability
(2) To utilise resources to provide coverage to agencies in diverse settings
(3) To provide practical learning experiences for interns and provide for the transfer of skills to Agencies
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Where are Interns Assigned?

Interns are assigned to CCSI Projects or to CCSI child-focused partner agencies in the Caribbean which implement projects developed to address parent support and early childhood development. The CSI partner agencies/projects act as hosts for interns selected to pursue an assignment.

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Categories of Interns

1) There are three categories of interns:
i) Those in a final year Degree Programme
ii) Those who are recent graduates of either an Undergraduate programme or are students of a Masters’ Programme
iii) Those who are graduates of a Masters Programme
2) Interns are expected to come from the various disciplines: Media, Education, Arts, the Behavioural Sciences or any other discipline which can meet the articulated needs of projects and agencies of the CCSI
3) Interns will be selected based on the matching of university’s needs, intern needs and the needs of the CCSI’s partner agencies

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What does internship involve?

  • Travelling to an Eastern Caribbean Island
  • Working in a university-approved agency for 2-3 months
  • Earning a stipend for living expenses (NOT a salary)
  • Setting your own clear learning objectives
  • Contributing your skills to development and research efforts
  • Learning about other Caribbean countries and culture
  • Collecting data towards your own thesis or dissertation while making a useful contribution to a development agency
  • Gaining invaluable experience to include on your resume
  • Having additional references for future job applications

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Time spent on an Internship

1) The amount of time spent on an internship will depend on the type of intern selected (undergraduate or graduate student or a recent graduate of a masters or undergraduate degree programme) and the nature of the proposed assignment.
Graduate and undergraduate students are normally required to complete specified hours or time while those who are recent graduates of masters’ programmes will be expected to pursue from three to six (3-6) months placement within an agency.
2) Internships take place either:
(a) Over the summer when students are not expected to attend classes (for those graduates and undergraduates who are unable to do this activity during the school year or who chose to conduct this activity during the summer months)
Or
(b) At any time during a calendar year when interns are requested by agencies

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How are interns supported?

Interns are supported by grants provided by the Bernard van Leer Foundation, University of the West Indies Mona, and Cave Hill and St. Augustine Campuses and regional organisation.  The includes the following:

 

  • local travel
  • accommodation
  • Meals and personal expenses over the duration of an internship.

Interns will be required to support the cost of air travel and health insurance.

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Criteria for Selection of an intern

The following includes both the criteria considered for selection of interns and the expected professional behaviour of interns as proposed by Agencies and the various university Faculties/Departments:                                                                      
Interns should demonstrate the following:

 

  • Maturity and independence
  • A sense of adventure
  • Sensitivity to diverse settings and culture
  • The ability to adapt to rural settings and/or unstructured work settings
  • The ability to adapt to unfamiliar living and working conditions
  • The ability to set personal learning objectives
  • The ability to utilize theories learnt and professional techniques in working with agency clients and staff
  • A sense of commitment to tasks allocated and to the established protocols of an agency
  • Receptivity to personal and performance assessments made
  • The ability to establish professional relationships only with agency staff and clients
  • Punctuality
  • Willingness to adapt to the dress code of the agency


Interns are also selected based on their interest, the needs of agencies, the ability of interns to respond to the expressed needs and the opportunity provided for interns/students to gain credits as a requirement for obtaining a degree.

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For Further Information contact:

UWI, Cave Hill

Ms. Jennifer Pollard Career Counsellor Office of Student Services University of the West Indies Cave Hill St. Michael, Barbados Telephone: 246-417-4168 E-mail:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it UWI,

St.Augustine

Mrs. Deborah Charles-Smythe Snr. Asst. Registrar Graduate Studies & Research University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad Telephone: (868)-662-2002 ext.2616 E-mail:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

UWI, Mona

Mrs. Aldene Shillingford Regional Coordinator- Caribbean Internship Project Centre for Population, Community & Social Change Department of Sociology, Psychology & Social Work University of The West Indies Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica Telephone: 876) 970-1284 Fax: (876) 702-4571 (876) 542-5051 E-mail:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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