Sonoma State University

2022 How to Recruit SSU Students as Interns & for CIP

Service and Internship Fair booth

In another blog post, we discuss the differences between internships and the Community Involvement Program (CIP). This post is about how community organizations can recruit Sonoma State University (SSU) students to serve in these capacities.

I. Getting an Agreement in Place 

All organizations that want to host interns, CIP students, and/or service-learning students must have an Agreement with SSU. We must be in the process of getting that Agreement before a student can start with you. 

  1. Check this list to see if your organization is approved. If it is, skip down to section II.

  2. Not on the list yet? Please sign up in SSUEngage. This will start the process of getting a 5-year Agreement in place with SSU. 

  3. Not on the list, but already started signing up? Please either login to complete the process or reach out to us for help. 

  4. Need help? Contact cce@sonoma.edu and we’ll set up a time to zoom, screenshare, and work through it together.

II. Recruitment

If your community organization is interested in recruiting an intern or CIP student, more is better. Here are some ideas:

  1. Login to SSUEngage and add your opportunit(ies). We will share them with appropriate faculty who can distribute them to their students. Please remember to include approximate number of hours per week (45 total hours per semester = 1 internship unit for the student, 90 hours = 2 units, etc.) your expectations of the student, a title (what the student will be doing, not "Intern") and what the benefits are to the student. For example, "Although this position is unpaid, you will learn/meet/etc. x,y,z…” this will save you a lot of time fielding student questions about pay.

  2. Nonprofit and governmental organizations that are approved in SSUEngage can register for the Service & Internship Fair on August Thursday, August 31st.

  3. Community Partner Thursdays are also a great way to recruit students. Find out how to participate so you can improve your reach and increase student engagement. Also, check out some tips and tricks for successful tabling.

  4. Do you have SSU interns now? Ask them to help you with your recruitment. Perhaps they have a friend who would be a great match. You can even consider adding "replace yourself" to the position description.

  5. If you haven't done so already, post positions to your website, post the link on social media, etc. Ask current and past students to link to it and share it, etc.

  6. Have other ideas to share? Post them here in the comments section of the blog!

Don't forget to make an informed decision about whether to pay or not. Most for-profit companies are required to pay at least minimum wage. The School of Business & Economics requires that all interns be paid. Other Schools and Departments do not require payment for their interns and some prefer unpaid internships. We recognize that differing policies and procedures can make your recruitment efforts more challenging, but the CCE is here to help. Please reach out!