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The McDonough Leadership Program encourages its McDonough Scholars to pursue an internship before they graduate. In fact, students can use an internship to fulfill their Experiential Education requirement in the Global Leadership Major and Minor in Leadership Studies. Some students have an internship while studying abroad. Recently, for instance, a McDonough Scholar interned in the British Parliament while studying at the London Metropolitan University. The main philosophy behind the Experiential Education requirement is the real benefits that a hands-on experience outside the classroom may add to a college education.

There are several steps a McDonough Scholar must take in order to begin their Leadership Internship process:

First, they must have an Internship Learning Agreement completed and on file with the Director of Community Engagement.

Secondly, McDonough Scholars are expected to keep a journal with reflections about leadership during their internship. All students completing the internship for graduation, both majors and minors, will be required to submit a reflective journal (via email) during their internship, as well as a final self-evaluation.

Students in the Global Leadership major should also keep an ongoing journal. This journal will help you write the Internship Reflection Paper, which will become part of your course grade in LEAD 403 (capstone seminar for the students in the Global Leadership major). Download the Internship Reflection Paper Prompt.

The third step in the Leadership Internship process is a supervisor evaluation. Supervisors will receive an evaluation form via email. If the supervisor prefers, the evaluation can be in a format that the company already utilizes, or a letter to the Director of Community Engagement evaluating your performance. If choosing this option, the internship supervisor should mail this directly to the Director of Community Engagement (McDonough Center, Marietta College, 215 Fifth Street, Marietta, OH 45750).

The final step in the Leadership Internship process is participation in the McDonough Leadership Conference the spring semester following internship completion. All students completing an internship to fulfill the graduation requirement will present either a poster session or participate on an internship panel during the conference in April. Students will work with the Director of Community Engagement to plan and prepare this presentation.