Dubuque Center

Purpose
Consistent with the mission of its Center for Experiential Learning, Loras College sponsors and coordinates opportunities in Dubuque for students who want to learn through internships and service.  Through the Dubuque Center students apply the knowledge and methods they learn in classes to their own community, and they bring experiences from the community back to their classrooms.  Dubuque Center internships focus on the application and development of the board-based liberal arts skills within the workplace.  Interns are expected  to be active learners who reflect upon the enviroment and the dynamics of the worksite, as well as the work experience.  Internships coordinated through the Dubuque Center challenge students to recognize and enhance skill sets that are interdisciplinary and common to most worksites.  

Description
The Center offers students a variety of learning experiences.  Students intern in either profit or non-profit organizations to reach outcomes that  the Center, the intern, and the worksite have identified and agreed upon.  Paid and unpaid internships are available to students during the fall and spring semesters, as well as summer.

Format
Students apply to the Center and, if they are accepted, they interview with one of the many local organizations affiliated with the Center.  Shortly after beginning the internship the intern completes a “Learning Plan” that outlines academic goals and how they will be reached.   Interns who seek credit can work as few as 60 hours per semester (four hours each week) or as many as 450 (30 hours per week).  Employers try to accommodate student class schedules.  The intern is expected to reflect upon the internship experience utilizing a journaling format.  To obtain credit for an internship the intern submits a critical portfolio at the end of the internship that is reviewed by a panel of faculty and staff.

What Dubuque Center interns have to say about their experiences….

	“As a result of my internship I have changed as a person by becoming more confident in myself. I now know I am able to go out and start a job, survive, and be successful at it …. I think this will greatly benefit me when I am applying for jobs, to be able to say I had an internship and have worked in the business workplace.” Erin McGrew, Crescent Electric Supply Company Intern “Working at Crescent has prepared me for the working world in so many ways. Not only has it given me a better understanding of the area I want to go into, but just a better understanding of who I am as a worker. I now feel more confident in myself as a worker and this is something that I greatly needed.” Nicole Tressel, Crescent Electric Supply Company Intern
	“This internship has helped with the direction my life is taking. It has motivated me to go to graduate school, and it has helped me with my art work …. I enjoyed being immersed in the world of professional art, confirming my choice of major, but refining my ideas of where my major might lead.” Kelly Cram, Dubuque Museum of Art Intern
	“…my professional abilities have grown exponentially. This internship taught me about marketing. This internship taught me about publishing a book. This internship taught me about the importance of communication and teamwork. This internship taught me about time management and the value of being organized. This internship taught me that I can do anything I desire. Most importantly, this internship taught me about me.” Margaret Sullivan, Kucera Center/Loras College Marketing Department Intern

Feel free to contact Faye Finnegan in the Center for Experiential Learning (590 Alumni Campus Center) for further information.

Faye Finnegan
Academic Intern Coordinator
563-588-7155
faye.finnegan@loras.edu