Rice Internship Council

The Rice Internship Council (RIC) is a collective of Rice campus partners
united to help educate, connect, and empower students on
any topic related to their internship(s).

Through facilitated interactive discussions of best practices and challenges, the RIC enables the creation of strategies for improvement of internship related work. Peers exchange timely updates including: departmental policies, technological or funding resources, course offerings, initiatives, challenges related to internships.

The RIC provides an opportunity for interested colleagues – faculty and staff – currently representing 85 departments from across the university to cultivate a diverse community of learning and discovery that gathers, reflects, collaborates, and shares common solutions through triannual meetings.

The RIC is an open group for all who coach, mentor, counsel, advise or guide students on any topic related to their internship(s).

To join our next meeting or for more information, contact Ivette Mekdessi at ifm2@rice.edu.

We also invite you to keep reading to learn more about Internship Council.

The council defines an “internship” as: "A form of experiential learning that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional setting."

(Definition provided by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE))

Sample internship titles include: Student Research Assistant, Student Worker, Marketing Intern, Policy Research Intern, etc.

Members from across the Rice University campus provide insight to centralize and disseminate information about the nuances of different faculty and staff roles related to internships which vary by:

• Levels of internship facilitation roles
• Types of internship opportunities offered
• 18+ internship courses offered
• 12+ types of internship programs offered
• Communication strategies and nodes of disseminating information.

Following the RIC meetings, members are able to:

• Provide data-supported updates
• Gain best practices and insight from peers across the institution
• Identify new resources and strategies that can be implemented within your role working with students on internship-related topics

As humans we are hardwired for connection. In addition to meetings, the RIC provides the opportunity to connect asynchronously by:

• Creating and regularly updating readily accessible digital resources guides
• Creating the first ever Rice experiential learning survey and report to gain a better understanding of the nuances of different roles and methods of communication, while also providing insight to centralize and disseminate information about internships at Rice
• Facilitating focus groups on specialized topics of interest including: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Internships, International Students & Internships, Internship/Job Search Options for Students, Internship Management (Development & Administration), Partnerships / Collaborations.

The Rice Internship Council is currently comprised of members from the following departments across Rice University:

To join our next meeting or for more information, contact Ivette Mekdessi at ifm2@rice.edu.