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CLIP Program

Capital One Leadership Internship Program (CLIP)

 (video created by Tim Ghazzawi, 2010-2011 CLIP student)

Please note - the CLIP program will end after the 2012-2013 academic year.

Overview

Well-designed internship and leadership experiences provide pathways for college students tomake a difference in their communities and in the lives of others across the globe. Drawing from Capital One Bank's commitment to the many communities they serve, the Capital One Leadership Internship Program (CLIP) provides University of Maryland undergraduate students with the unique opportunity to integrate these concepts through academic leadership courses, an internship, international immersion and team collaboration.

  • Are you interested in a spring break trip for an international immersion experience?CLIP student smiling on plane to Uganda
  • Are you looking for assistance with identifying an internship experience?
  • Have you developed your leadership style through a global context yet?

These are just some of the things that the CLIP program will enable you to experience as a member of the student cohort.  You can also contact Negar Ashtari Abay, Graduate Assistant for CLIP, at clip@umd.edu.

Purpose:

To prepare students for civic leadership in the global world of work through interdisciplinary learning focused on:

  • Personal and multicultural development
  • Understanding organizational structures and complex systems in a global society
  • Civic engagement and asset based sustainable community and international development

Are you interested in a spring break trip for an international immersion experience?

  • The CLIP student cohort will travel to Uganda over spring break in 2013 to deepen their understanding of global leadership, sustainable international development and community partnerships.

Are you looking for assistance with identifying an internship experience?

 

  • Participants will take part in an internship experience during the Fall 2013 semester.
  • University of Maryland, University Career Center staff will work with you to find an internship experience exploring global leadership and your career goals.
  • Learn how to build and polish your resume and take advantage of the resources and networks of local communities.

Have you developed your leadership style through a global context yet?

  • CLIP students will learn about global leadership while taking EDCP318i in the fall and spring semesters in preparation for their global immersion in Uganda.
  • Students will delve into various leadership styles, practices and ideas through their course work to develop their own ideas and leadership style.

What does the application process look like? How much will this cost me?.

  • Applications will be available January 24, 2012 and will be due by February 25, 2012.
  • Through a generous grant by Capital One Bank. All major expenses of the international immersion in Uganda will be paid in full by the CLIP program! This includes: airfare, meals, accommodations, and program materials.
  • Students will enroll in EDCP318i for the Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 semesters.
  • Approximately fifteen students will be selected to join the cohort. Priority consideration is given to students at sophomore standing for the Fall 2012 semester.

Structure

 

The Capital One Leadership Internship Program (CLIP) blends academic rigor (classroom learning), concrete experience (internship), and active experimentation (international immersion and global showcase) over two academic semesters.

Spring Semester I (immediately after program participate selection)
Career Development Workshops and Internship Selection:
Students undergo an extensive selection process that involves a written application and interview process. Once admitted, selected students participate in three two-hour career development workshops focused on finding and securing a meaningful internship. Upon completion of the workshops, students are prepared to secure an internship for the next fall semester. Workshop topics include:

 

  • Developing a resume and cover letter
  • Locating and securing an internship
  • Interviewing skills

Fall Semester
EDCP 318i - Leadership in Global Context I - 3 credit course
Internship - 6-10 hours per week for a minimum of 75 hours

Fall course goals include:
  • Gain a better understanding of the nature and complexity of leadership, including its inter-disciplinary and global nature.
  • Understand the importance of self-knowledge and its relationship to group process.
  • Understand gender and cultural influences on groups, organizations, and communities.
  • Develop competency in global leadership and sustainable international development.
  • Recognize their responsibility to participate in their own communities and in the broader society.
  • Help clarify career goals and aspirations as a result of the internship experience.
  • Understand one's own leadership potential.
  • Discuss ethics in leadership and the work environment.


Internship Experience:
The internship component over the years has evolved. In the beginning the internship focused on learning organizational structures, gaining knowledge of the workplace environment, and developing career related skills. Today the focus is on students learning about leadership through a global context and being an active participant in sustainable community development. With the evolution of the international immersion in Uganda and a program focus on sustainable development, there is intentionality with choosing internship sites where parallels can be drawn with the lessons the students will learn about international development while abroad. Below are a sample of past internship sites.
  • Capital One Bank (Laurel headquarters)
  • UM Office of Federal Relations
  • UM Office of Sustainability
  • UM Engaged University
  • YMCA
  • Partners for the Americas
  • Thrive DC - Homeless shelter and outreach organization in DC
  • Community Bridges - Empowerment program for young girls in Takoma Park and Silver Spring middle schools
  • International Leadership Association
  • Discovery Channel


Spring Semester II
EDCP 318i - Leadership in a Global Context II - 3 credit course
International Immersion over Spring Break (10 day)
Global Leadership Showcase - upon completion of course and international immersion

Spring course goals include:
  • Clarify students own understanding of Western views of leadership through experiencing a different culture
  • Develop an understanding of how leadership and social change are perceived and presented in another global context
  • Actively participate in asset based sustainable international development
  • Study the use of power and nature of oppression as viewed from diverse perspectives
  • Gain knowledge of complex systems and systemic change
  • Analyze the interconnections of historical, political, social, economic, and cultural contexts.
  • Learn to discuss cultural differences and engage across difference
  • Critically reflect on one's own capacity for global leadership
  • Design a reflection project to present one's learning to others at Maryland.
Picture of Individuals completing work with hammer

International Immersion Experience:
In an effort to further the students' learning and actively participate in leadership through service learning the international immersion will take place in Masaka, Uganda for the 2009-2010 academic year. A partnership has formed with the Foundation for Sustainable Development (www.fsdinternational.org) who will help facilitate student learning about and engaging in asset-based sustainable international development.

 


Global Leadership Showcase:
Upon returning from their international immersion experience, students will engage in a project that includes the design and execution of a Global Learning Showcase. Students are encouraged to share individual and collective learning from their experience. Topics covered might include: an orientation to the history and cultural traditions of their international experience; connections made among internship, class, and immersion experiences, and reflections on service learning experiences with community-based organizations and NGOs. The students will showcase their learning through a Digital Images project, incorporating multimedia resources into their learning.


CLIP group photo

Learning Outcomes / Assessment

 

Personal Development - Students will learn to:

 

  1. Gain knowledge about themselves
    • Develop consciousness of self; self-confidence; feelings of mattering; manage personal emotions; value cultural heritage
    • Understand and reinforce students career goals
  2. Work with others to manage the work environment
    • Practice collaboration; controversy with civility; engage across difference; be committed to ethical action
  3. Develop effective communication skills
    • Practice effective written and oral communication
    • Gain an understanding of the effects of verbal and non-verbal communication in the work environment.
    • Practice cross-cultural communication
  4. Develop personal leadership skills
    • Set individual goals; practice risk-taking; delegate; serve as a role model; manage people and tasks; facilitate group process
    • Recognize their capacity to lead in community or work settings
    • Develop competency in global leadership
Understanding organizational structures and complex systems - Students will learn to:
  1. Develop group leadership skills
    • Develop leadership in peers; identify common purpose in groups; help groups set goals; apply problem solving strategies; value recognition and organizational sustainability
    • View leadership as a process
  2. Practice systems thinking
    • Understand group dynamics; organizational structures and political systems and navigate complex system
  3. Develop knowledge, skills and abilities to effectively negotiate diverse work environments

Community involvement/Civic engagement - Students will learn to:

 

  1. Develop civic awareness
    • Develop empathy, ethics, values, and a sense of social responsibility
    • Develop global sensitivity and the ability to understand diverse perspectives
  2. Practice engaged citizenship
    • Participate actively in the broader community, engage in community problem solving, and community service
    • Assume leadership and membership roles in organizations

Interdisciplinary learning - Students will learn to:

 

  1. Articulate how work experience enhances understanding of self.
  2. Apply academic theories and disciplinary knowledge in diverse contexts.
  3. How academic learning can be translated through leadership and civic engagement concepts, theories, and models into practice in solving problems and facilitating change.
  4. Demonstrate an ability to think in complex ways about organizational and community issues.
  5. Develop multicultural competence required for interacting in local and global contexts.

Assessment & Evaluation

 

The proposed learning outcomes for the Capital One Leadership Internship Program will be measured through a pre/post assessment cycle. The primary assessment tool will be the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale (SRLS) administered through the National Clearinghouse of Leadership Programs. Complementing the SRLS will be evaluations of the courses and internship experiences, and reviews of the international experience and showcase. Course evaluations examine the quality of the course and instructors, as well as a review of each student's professional portfolio. Internship evaluations include student learning contracts, self- evaluations, and employer evaluations.

 Two CLIP students in Uganda standing next to a cow

 

How To Apply

The CLIP program has finished its 10-year funding cycle and will no longer be funded past the 2012-2013 academic year. We encourage interested students to review other leadership and service-learning opportunities at the LCSL website. Thank you for your interest in the program!

For more information, please email clip@umd.edu.