Museum Exhibit Internship with Michigan Historical Museum

Museum Exhibit Internship
Michigan Historical Museum
702 W. Kalamazoo
Lansing, MI 48909
E-mail: bloomfieldm@michigan.gov
Telephone: (517) 373-744
Fax: (517) 241-4738
Web site: www.michigan.gov/museum


Internship objective: Interns will have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of overall museum operations while promoting the unique historical destinations in the state of Michigan.

Internships are available: Su I & Su II annually for all locations. (Note: The Michigan Historical Museum in Lansing also has internships available spring and fall semesters as well.)

Number of interns needed: minimum of one

Start date: On or near the first day of the semester, negotiable

End date: On or near the last day of the semester, negotiable

Hours per week: Flexible; minimum 10 hours a week during the week and/or weekends

Academic qualifications: Declared major or minor in the School of Communication

Desired skills and qualifications: Student interns must:
Take initiative and be self-motivated
Be detail-oriented and thorough
Be interested in history
Have an ability to work well individually and on a team
Be willing to learn new skills
Enjoy working with people—schoolchildren and adults
Have good oral and written communications skills

Description of intern responsibilities: Exhibit staff interns will research special topics in Michigan history and work with staff to develop and design new exhibits and/or improve current exhibits at our flagship museum in Lansing, or another museum site around the state. Interns will help develop temporary changing exhibits, design panels, create labels and/or storylines, expand current exhibits, develop hands-on activities, install displays, or develop interactive programs at one of the museum system field sites.

Learning Agreement/Learning Objectives: Internships at the Michigan Historical Museum are based on learning objectives defined by the intern and his or her faculty advisor, and museum supervisor. The student and his or her museum supervisor will develop a project that will be mutually beneficial. The learning objectives will serve as a basis for evaluation and will identify the project, respective responsibilities, the length of the internship and the evaluation procedure.

Locations:
The Michigan Historical Museum, Lansing
Walker Tavern Historic Site, Brooklyn
Fayette Historic Townsite, Garden
Michigan Iron Industry Museum, Negaunee
Tawas Point Lighthouse, East Tawas
Mann House, Concord
Hartwick Pines Logging Museum, Grayling
Civilian Conservation Corps Museum, Roscommon
Fort Wilkins and Copper Harbor Lighthouse, Copper Harbor
Sanilac Petroglyphs, Bad Axe

Museum staff responsibilities: Museum staff will mentor each student and help them develop specific responsibilities to meet their internship goals based on the student’s experience and interest.

Credit: College credit toward communication major, minor or general electives. One hour of college credit is earned for 40 hours of work up to a maximum of 6 credit hours.

Students must follow their college or university’s requirement to receive credits for their work and are responsible for seeing to it that all necessary paperwork is completed. Museum supervisors will provide evaluations and recommendations but will not provide a grade on their internship. Academic institutions determine the students' grades/credits.

Application deadline: Ongoing. Internships are offered every semester: fall, winter-spring, summer. See above for locations and internship availability.

How to apply: Send cover letter (please include desired location), completed application form, and resume to:
Martha Bloomfield, Community Relations
Michigan Historical Museum, 702 W. Kalamazoo, Lansing, MI 48909
E-mail: bloomfieldm@michigan.gov
Telephone: (517) 373-7441; Fax: (517) 241-4738
Web site: www.michigan.gov/museum

Evaluation: The evaluation and grade will be completed by Internship Coordinator Marilyn Kritzman and will be based upon the following:
 The student’s journal/log/observation of all intern activities
 The student’s copy of all work produced
 The student’s learning objectives as well as the progress made towards completing the learning objectives
 Final paper
 The internship sponsor’s (on site supervisor) mid-internship evaluation
 The internship sponsor’s (on site supervisor) final evaluation
 The intern and supervisor will each write an evaluation of the internship and submit them to the intern’s faculty advisor and the museum internship coordinator. Interns are expected to provide the intern supervisor with any evaluation forms from their respective college or university.

Method of Evaluation:
 Student’s journal/log: 20%
 Student’s work: 20 %
 Paper: 20%
 Internship sponsor’s (on site supervisor) mid-internship evaluation: 20%
 Internship sponsor’s (on site supervisor) final evaluation: 20%

Calendar:
 E-mail updates to faculty sponsor (Marilyn Kritzman) every month.
 Additional communication via email, phone or in person as needed
 All materials are to be submitted to Marilyn Kritzman on the Wednesday prior to final weeks of the semester/session registered.
 Internship sponsor’s (on site supervisor) evaluation due half way through the internship
 Internship sponsor’s (on site supervisor) final evaluation due the Wednesday of finals week with the rest of the material. The evaluation may be submitted with the student’s materials in a sealed envelope, or the sponsor may submit it separately by the due date.


Student’s Signature


Intern sponsor’s (at internship site) signature


Coordinator of Undergraduate Internship’s (Marilyn S. Kritzman) signature