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Supervisors that hire paid intern(s) through SMILE will be required to facilitate a minimum of one Hopkins GROW conversation with their intern(s), and submit their Capstone Conversation Form. Paid internship experiences during college help contribute to student success when meaningful connections between learning in the classroom and learning on the internship are made evident. Hopkins GROW uses brief, structured conversations between student interns and their supervisors to help students connect the skills and knowledge they are gaining in the classroom with the work they are doing, and vice versa. Hopkins GROW is focused on making paid internships a "high-impact practice" - one that requires students to reflect on their learning and connect their learning within and beyond the classroom.

Contact Us

University Experiential Learning
Tel: 410-516-8400
stujob@jhu.edu


Four quick questions

Hopkins GROW conversations are guided by four quick questions:
  1. How is this internship fitting in with your academics?
  2. What are you learning here that's helping you in school?
  3. What are you learning in class that you can apply here at your internship?
  4. Can you give me a couple of examples of things you have learned here that you think you will use in your chosen profession or next experience?

Why Hopkins GROW?

Research shows that students know they are learning many "real world" work skills, such as time management, conflict resolution, and balancing priorities. What they may not connect on their own, however, is their classroom learning and their internships. While some connections are really natural (e.g. a graphic design major working on a marketing team), others require a bit more thought and deliberate attention. Supervisors are very important assets in helping students make these connections between their internship and school.

Supervisors regularly check in with student interns on work flow, tasks, and assignments. Taking an extra minute or two to periodically check in on how students are doing in classes, and even asking them to relate what they are learning in the internship to course work or vice versa can be all it takes to help get some connections firing.

Supervisor's Guide

  1. Instructions at a glance
  2. Email or Memo template
  3. Capstone Conversation Form
    WHAT IS THIS? Use this form to take notes during the Hopkins GROW conversation.
    IMPORTANT - You MUST complete and submit this form in order for your student to meet the internship requirements. To access the Capstone Conversation Form, login into SMILE and View Positions. You will need to click the 'Hopkins GROW' button next to the student application.



*The GROW conversation is based on a program at The University of Iowa, and used with their permission.