Since very few faculties from professional institutions get opportunities for consulting assignments it becomes difficult for them to upgrade their knowledge and skills. Should Industry, Industry Associations, Academia, and Regulators come together to work together on the concept of "Faculties Internship Programs"? That will help everyone. What is your opinion? Kindly comment ...
This is an important question. In addition to the excellent, helpful answers already given, there is a bit more to add.
The notion of a faculty internship is comparable to the notion of a postdoctoral fellowship. Instead of gaining experience doing research as a postdoc with a senior researcher, a faculty intern would gain experience as an apprentice in an industrial (commercial) environment.
The faculty intern model would certainly work for young mathematicians trying out their skills in actual industrial applications. In that context, abstractions such as persistence homology would blossom in the solution of industrial problems that are susceptible to homological modelling, especially for applications where it is important to recognize when a particular process has a "sunset", i.e., starts to fail.
Yes, there is a need for such. Many universities in the Philippines now have their programs for faculty immersion in industry.
Yes there is great need for academics to groom themselves in the industry so that they get updated with the new technologies, which could enable them to teach effortlessly to the younger generations rather than being theoretical only. When the faculty move across more domains, they can get more exposure, which can be cross-disciplinary and more advantageous for new developments.
If faculty internships are for instructors to glean skills in collaboration with community representatives, I think that there is already a mechanism to do this. Many universities offer their staff and their Graduate Research Assistants to perform a limited number of community service projects and to expose the graduate student to problem-solving situations. I would inquire about these opportunities with the Dean of Research or Dean of the Department/College to determine if there is already University policy regarding this. If not, academic leaders at the university or within the colleges at the university, can create policy to permit this opportunity. But I think that an internship implies unpaid and that is not a practical approach. It sets the precedent for 'free research' and that is a great disconnect with how the university receives money for funded projects (the university receives a certain percentage of funds as a common practice to research grants). Perhaps a better approach to experience is incorporating classes on grant writing, researching areas of interest that require analysis, adding a statistics class, or working with other departments to see if you have a skills that they require. Interdisciplinary projects can be an opportunity for a vast amount of knowledge. Combining this approach may give faculty opportunities to stretch their influence internally within different university departments/colleges that may form an internship to start, then build to external projects such as community service projects, grant writing, and then actual funded research. The mentoring should start internal and expose new faculty to these different aspects of academic life including teaching methods, peer-review and various forms of writing so that they can teach others and feel comfortable with their level of proficiency. Though I have taught in many categories but I did not have the opportunity to teach a class when I was a Graduate Research Asst due to a very limited number of opportunities. But I did have several opportunities to apply my skills in research, business development, presentations, reporting and document preparation for other departments and for several community projects. I would have liked the opportunity to officially perform this duty for the experience instead of the tangential opportunities to teach during one on one with peers or when leading studies for qualifying exams. Often, a university will only review a resume if you have collegiate level experience. While I have wonderful references, they do not include any teaching critiques and that often reduces the likelihood of interest. So if you follow the inside out program that I have suggested for internships, there should also be a template developed that gauges performance. Interns should be aware of these targets in some introductory class session. I would suggest that there should also be a form of merit developed for Associate or full Professors to mentor Assistant Professors. Mentoring should be in line with the department goals and those goals should include faculty internal development, external development and building personal skills to enhance the instructor and their students.
As stated, it is big need for academics. Read about the experience of one professor of Psichology.
An Internship for the Professor!
My internship experiences during my sabbatical leave have become a permanent part of my working knowledge. Seeing clients work through issues, and gaining a better understanding of client histories both via files and direct communication has been very enlightening. My next goal is to bring these experiences to life in my teaching. Using examples from my “internship” in the classroom will hopefully bring a new level of excitement and reality to my students...
Finally, I made meaningful connections at each institution. Meeting professionals in these environments will foster my ability to more appropriately place future student interns. I will now be more comfortable referring a student intern to any of these facilities because I now know the professionals who work in each and the type of work they do. I now have a better understanding of the types of activities that student interns will be involved in and what will be expected from them. This experience will foster my ability to be a faculty sponsor for student internships.
In the current climate of “active learning” I am very fortunate to have been given this opportunity to go beyond textbooks and acquire a better understanding of our colleagues in the applied psychology settings. I highly recommend this or a similar experience for any teaching professor lacking work experience outside of the academy. It was both informative and humbling...
https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-careers-an-internship-for-the-professor/
This is an important question. In addition to the excellent, helpful answers already given, there is a bit more to add.
The notion of a faculty internship is comparable to the notion of a postdoctoral fellowship. Instead of gaining experience doing research as a postdoc with a senior researcher, a faculty intern would gain experience as an apprentice in an industrial (commercial) environment.
The faculty intern model would certainly work for young mathematicians trying out their skills in actual industrial applications. In that context, abstractions such as persistence homology would blossom in the solution of industrial problems that are susceptible to homological modelling, especially for applications where it is important to recognize when a particular process has a "sunset", i.e., starts to fail.
Faculty indeed need internship as this will,
a) expose them to new environment,
b) keep updated about recent developments , especially new tools and techniques,
c) encourage strong hand holding which may manifest in collaborative skills,
If done periodically, this will rejuvenate faculty motivation. One has to be life long learner !!
Dear colleagues,
YES, there is a need for such. Several parameters, have a direct influence on the productivity of faculties, are neglected . The certificates given by several faculties aren't recognized by several comapanies and institutions because the skills of the students are bad.
So a revision of the teaching methods and the purposes is a must.
Dear Rahul,
Knoweldge and skills seeking are unending activities that change with time. Therefore, there is the need to continually search for avenues to upgrade one's skills or knowledge to be able to play their roles effectively. As such Faculty internship programs aimed at liaising universities with the players in the industry is a step in the right direction that must be applauded and encouraged in global universities.
Lecturers would have the opportunity of 'entering' into the domains of the industries to know the need demands, skills and expertise required for the job market so that they can tune their lessons in the classroom to that effect. This would impart in learners the requisite skills the world of work needs. It will aid in curbing the bankruptcy in the skill development and/or upgradement of our university teaching staff. It would aid in weaving perfectly the theoretcal concepts with the right practical components to make the teaching and learning processes complete and more meaningful.
Thanks for this wonderful initiatives.
Dickson Adom
Intermship should be seen as a permanent part of work not only as part of student examinations, but also for all of us including our academia. It provides the opportunity to acquire new skills but most importantly learn new techniques on solving emerging challenges like climate change. Unfortunately, the opportunities are limited and rarely are they available, Therefore there is need for institutions to initiate and implement frameworks that would allow bringing on board interns to learn from new innovations or to build interdisciplinary teams to innovate. This should include south-south or north-south opportunities for internships.
Some facts from Serbia!
Lack of cooperation between HEIs and employers
• In Serbia, 47% of employers have never cooperated over curricula with HEI, 36% rarely,
17% often
• Yet, 71% say that such cooperation would be desirable and would improve matching of graduates to the needs of the employer...
• Employers that cooperate with HEIs have better perception of graduate skills than others
• HEIs have not adapted fast enough, so employers perceive graduates have skill gaps
• Reform of teaching methods is important to resolve skill gaps...
So, it is obvious that modernization of curricula and teaching methods is MUST, as faculties internship is MUST, and such approach will contribute to better students'quality, while existing internship scheme for graduates should be expanded.
http://www.rsjp.gov.rs/malodrvo/brosure/Prezentacija_preliminarnih_rezultata_studije_-_300520166.pdf
It is very important and must be introduced as mandatory for faculties in Self Financing Engineering Institutions.. It will definitely help in updating the skill of faculties.
Much needed. It is very important in terms of CPD, academic networks, etc. Definetely a good idea, however, there will be financial difficulties...
Hi Rahul
SOme useful references on attachment 1
https://www.mcgill.ca/internships/programs
3
https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20211/career_center/351/faculty_-_internship_program
6
https://www.indeed.com/q-Faculty-Diversity-Internship-Program-jobs.html
10
https://www.hamline.edu/offices/career-development/internships/faculty-info.html
13
https://www.ualberta.ca/physics/undergraduate-studies/internship-program
14
https://www.ualberta.ca/science/student-services/science-internship-program
15
http://www.calu.edu/current-students/career-services/internships/files/Faculty-Internship-Manual.pdf
17
http://laps.yorku.ca/2017/03/new-internship-program-launched-in-the-faculty-of-liberal-arts-professional-studies/
19
http://zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu/faculty/economics/resources/internships.html
20
http://web.plattsburgh.edu/policies/administrative/internship-programs.php
Dear @Laith, you have made 20 answers (links) in less than one hour under this thread. What is the purpose of it? I have seen 20 fast responses in a row on some other thread about asymmetries of information! Huge productivity may be performed very fast!!!
It is always desirable. But, it is difficult to find the same if one belongs to a private Institution- no takers!!!. It is rather easy to find faculty internships in reputed companies, if the faculty belongs to a Government or Intergovernmental Institution.
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