In Discussion: Volunteer & Staff Expectations (Part 2)

1. In Discussion: Volunteer & Staff Expectations (Part 2) Intern’s Bill of Rights Sasha Schechter Community Engagement Coordinator Friends of Thirteen, Inc

2. Sasha Schechter, Professional Intern • Began interning in high school at age 16 • Past internships include: • Hope Street Kids • The Office of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton • Colgate-Palmolive • CLIC Sargent for Children with Cancer (Bristol, UK) • LeadDog Marketing Group • WNET

3. Sasha Schechter, Community Engagement Coordinator:Intern to Staff • Began Internship with WNET in July 2011 • Became staff at WNET in September 2012 • Incredibly valuable internship experience: • Hands-on, “real world” work • Trust, building relationships • Broad range of experiences and opportunities • From fundraising to shooting on location

4. Internship ProjectsResponsibilities & Opportunities Research Assistant to Neal Shapiro • Scheduling • Phone Etiquette • Asking Questions • Follow-up Strategies • Budgeting • Letter Writing American Graduate Day • Background Research • Booking Guests • Production Assistant Treasures of New York • Pitch Writing Major Market Groups Arts Initiative • Watching/Selecting Relevant Programming • Rights and Clearances Volunteer Work • Learning how other departments work

5. Wonder Women! at Macaulay Honors College • Applied skills learned during internship to execute this event: • Wrote Pitch • Booked Guests • Established relationship with Macaulay New Media Lab • Panel Topic Research • Worked with panel moderator • Production – Livestream • Rights and Clearances • Leveraged relations from internship to highlight the event on-air

6. Staten Island Talks Education • Progressed from 60 people to 600: • Coordinated and managed preparation for this large-scale event • Starting small helped build up to this!

7. Internship Projects – Responsibilities & Opportunities Research Assistant to Neal Shapiro • Scheduling • Phone Etiquette • Asking Questions • Follow-up Strategies • Budgeting • Letter Writing American Graduate Day • Background Research • Booking Guests • Production Assistant Treasures of New York • Pitch Writing Major Market Groups Arts Initiative • Watching/Selecting Relevant Programming • Rights and Clearances Volunteer Work • Learning how other departments work

8. What is an internship, anyway? Survey says… -Johns Hopkins University -Oberlin College -Columbia University -Wikipedia

9. …Say What!? “Opportunity” “Explore” “Academic” “Career Development” “Pre-Professional” “Mentorship”

10. Intern’s Bill of Rights Interns work WITH the station, not FOR the station. This means…

11. Interns are not: • Free Labor • The Department of Labor says that interns, on occasion, may even slow a supervisor’s progress • Your “Go-fer” • Think twice before you ask for that cup of coffee… • Entry-level employees • They’re preparing to climb the ladder, but they haven’t quite stepped on the first rung yet

12. Interns are: • Volunteers • How would you work with a volunteer? Interns deserve that same respect! • Great resources for young, new perspectives • Great sounding board for ideas • Advocates for your station • These young people can be your biggest advocates in their communities and their (hard to reach) demographics

13. Interns are: (cont’d) • Eager to say yes! • Interns are looking for a variety of new opportunities and hands-on experiences – everything from filing to observing senior-level meetings. • Looking for guidance, feedback, and ROI • Taking on an intern means investing time in teaching someone how to do a job • After doing their work, interns will expect ROI. Which is to say that interns are… • Potential Employees • Clear goals, learning objectives, and deliverables • Especially important when an internship is for academic credit

14. Intern’s Bill of Rights Questions? Sasha Schechter Community Engagement Coordinator Friends of Thirteen, Inc. / WNET schechters@thirteen.org