Internship presentation HEInnovate 26sept

1. Università degli Studi di Bergamo
FABIO PREVIDI
HEInnovate workshop
Internship and practice-based learning
at the University of Bergamo
Sofia – September 26th, 2014

2. Summary
1. Heinnovate # 5 (focus on students)
2. Bulgaria National Review
3. The University of Bergamo internship system
o principles
o main actors
o process
o key factors for success
o numbers
Università degli Studi di Bergamo Internship @ UniBG
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3. A starting point: Heinnovate # 5
5. University – Business/external relationships
for knowledge exchange
Focus on students (non doctoral)
5.4 (i) clear incentives with removal of administrative barriers
5.5 (ii) mobility needs to be incentivised and facilitated
(iii) accompanying services during the internship
(iv) opportunities to think about the experience / sharing with other students
(v) a centralized support service
(vi) contact person for mobility at the Faculty level
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4. National Review Bulgaria: major difficulties
Difficulties in finding internships. The places offered by the career centre
do not match demand.When searching on their own for internship places,
many students encountered situations where firms said “we sign an
internship report for you, but we are not interested in having you as
intern”.
Lack of support during internships. Only students who found an
internship through their professors had a contact person to reach out
during the internship for advice.
Little relevance of internship experience. Internships are not an integral
part of education as there is no reflection of relevance of the internship
experience in class. Students talk about their experiences in extra
curricula activities or in their free time, but not in class. This leaves little
room for embedding practical learning experiences in the curriculum.
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5. Internship @ UniBg – The principles
University of Bergamo developed a continuous dialogue with
labour market, including companies and organization, in order to:
• promote high quality internships
• design specific personal projects for each candidate
• matching companies needs with each student skills and
abilities in a win-win framework
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6. Internship @ UniBg – The actors
Internship/placement
Board
Web portal Web portal
(Facultystudents)
Strategic thrust
Internship/placement
Office
Operating unit
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Company
Students
agreement
Faculty
(company tutor)
(academic tutor)
Defined in the
personal
project
Defined in the
personal
project
1
4 2 3
5
6
7

7. Internship @ UniBg – The process (I)
Assignment - Personal project design
o Joint work by student, company tutor, academic tutor
o Based on a well defined job reference role
o Job/teaching activities are clearly detailed
o Clear expected outcome of the teaching activity
o Definition of the supervision (milestones, periodic meetings, reports,…)
o Approved by the Internship office
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Web based

8. Internship @ UniBg – The process (II)
Development – Process supervision and evaluation
o Variable duration (typically from 2 to 12 months)
o Milestones (meetings, intermediate reports,…)
o Detailed timesheet (approved by the tutors)
o Final report (approved by the tutors)
o Assessement (anonymous questionnaire by student and company tutor)
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Web based

9. Internship @ UniBg – The success key factors
• Internships are mandatory in the student program
• The process is centralized and web-based («before» and «during»)
• The actors (and their duty/role) are well defined
• Accurate definition and careful writing of the internship project
• Companies are aware of their role in the teaching experience (and
of the benefit they can get from it)
• Company spontaneous proposals and picking activity by the
internship office
• A formal agreement between UniBg and the company is signed
once for all
• «Excellence» internships (example Law Faculty)
Università degli Studi di Bergamo Internship @ UniBG
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10. Internship @ UniBg – Numbers (I)
• 1340 active agreements with companies and institutions
• ~ 1500 internships per year (steadily increasing)
• ~ 250 active academic tutors
• ~ 100 international internships per year (non doctoral)
• 15 excellence internships in 2013
• ~ 350 non-curricular internships per year
• Results of the companies assessment (91% highly satisfied)
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11. Internship @ UniBg – Numbers (II)
2012/13
Università degli Studi di Bergamo 11 Internship @ UniBG

12. Internship @ UniBg – Numbers (III)
Università degli Studi di Bergamo Internship @ UniBG
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2012/13
NON-curricular
internships

13. Thank You!