The goal of MICA's Graduate Internship Program is to provide our M.F.A. candidates, as developing professionals, the opportunity to take on technical and pedagogical roles within our institution, and thereby to learn from real world experiences typical of teachers and leaders in contemporary academic communities. In coordinating the placement of graduates in these many roles, the Graduate Internship Program supports aspects of curriculum development, tool maintenance and safety, and undergraduate pedagogy. While these internships greatly enrich the students' graduate school experience and better prepare them for post-graduate professional life, MICA also awards stipends to the interns in recognition of the knowledge, skill, and time they contribute.
Only enrolled graduate students may apply for internships.
Due to the responsibilities and time commitment required of interns, it is recommended that graduate students undertake no more than two internships per semester.
Types of Graduate Internship Positions
Graduate Teaching Intern (GTI)
A graduate student in the role of GTI works in an undergraduate course under the supervision of the faculty member and, using the Possible Progression for a Graduate Teaching Internship, gains valuable teaching experience. All graduate students are eligible to intern in any course for which they are not also enrolled as a student. First year graduate students must intern in a 100-level or Foundation course (core requirement or Foundation elective as defined by the Academic Bulletin) for at least one semester of their first year.
-It is highly recommended that GTIs take the course, Philosophy and Pedagogy of Post-secondary Visual Arts Education. (For graduate students wishing to earn the Certificate in the College Teaching of Art, this course is required.)
-As interns in the undergraduate courses, GTIs are expected to be present for every class meeting, and to collaborate with the mentoring instructor, working no more than an average of six hours per week.
-GTIs receive a stipend of $725 per internship per semester.
Graduate Research Assistant (GRA)
A graduate student in the role of GRA conducts research under faculty guidance for projects that have been pre-approved by the Provost, such as new course development, new program development, advanced digital technology laboratory, new project research, and media services.
-GRAs are expected to negotiate a work schedule that is beneficial for both the supervising faculty member and the GRA. The GRA should work no more than an average of six hours per week, or 150 hours.
-GRAs receive a stipend of $725 per internship per semester.
Graduate Technical Assistant (GTA)
A graduate student in the role of GTA acts as a technical advisor in select undergraduate courses that require specialized technical knowledge and/or require hazardous tools and materials. These graduate students do not plan or implement instruction of any kind, nor are they to lead lectures or critiques.
- As technical assistants in the undergraduate courses, GTAs are expected to be present for every class meeting, to maintain course tools and materials, working no more than an average of six hours per week.
-GTAs receive a stipend of $725 per internship per semester.
Graduate Internship Program Placement Process
- Graduate students contact faculty to ask for an interview.
- Faculty interview interested graduate students, and decide with whom they would like to work.
- Once a faculty and graduate student have agreed to work with one another, the graduate student contacts the Coordinator of the Graduate Internship Program.
- The Coordinator provides a Professional Development Action Form to the graduate student, which form documents approval of the placement and includes all the necessary information for the Graduate Internship Program database and for Human Resources.
- Human Resources and Payroll arrange for the graduate student to be paid.
- Faculty act as mentors to the graduate students with whom they are working. In the case of Graduate Teaching Interns, faculty support graduate students in developing the professional practices and experiences necessary for college level instruction of visual art.
Graduate Internship Program Timeline for Placements
Last two weeks of the semester (spring and fall):
- Graduate Internship opportunities are sent to graduate students
- Graduate students contact faculty for interviews
- Graduate students fill out Action Forms
First two weeks of the semester (spring and fall):
- Graduate students continue to contact faculty for interviews as needed
- Graduate students fill out Action Forms as needed
21st day of the semester (end of the third week):
- All Action Forms are due
- No students submitting Action Forms after the third week will be hired. Volunteers are accepted.
Graduate Internship Program Assessment Process
- Graduate students complete a confidential Graduate Feedback Form, assessing their experience with a particular faculty member in a particular course; only the Coordinator sees this form.
- Faculty members complete a confidential Faculty Feedback Form, assessing their experience with a particular graduate student in a particular course; only the Coordinator sees this form.
- The Coordinator maintains a semester-by-semester database of all graduate internship placements.
- The Coordinator works with the Dean of Academic Services to review assessment data and make recommendations for adjustments and improvements to the program.
The Certificate in College Teaching of Art
The purpose of the Certificate in the College Teaching of Art is to recognize MFA graduates who are: familiar with the range of theories and practices pertaining to the education of artists; prepared to teach and lead in any post-secondary institution; reflective about their own studio practice and creative processes; and, ultimately, are more sensitive and humane citizens able to create transformative educational experiences for their future students of studio art.
The Certificate in the College Teaching of Art has three requirements:
- Successful completion of three graduate teaching internships. Working beside a faculty member in an undergraduate class, the graduate student will gain experience in developing critique and presentation skills, implementing aspects of studio assignments, learning about the undergraduate student experience, and using appropriate professional communication skills.
- Successful completion of the course Philosophy & Pedagogy of Post-secondary Visual Arts Education, a 3-credit graduate critical studies seminar.*
- Written recommendations from two of the graduate student's GTI mentoring faculty.
* Course description from the Academic Bulletin: What are the artistic behaviors of contemporary artists? How do today's young people experience learning? And how do we construct new pedagogical paradigms-postmodern, multi-narrative-that reflect what we know of artists and learners in the 21st century? This seminar course is designed to provide graduate students who wish to become teachers and leaders in the field of post-secondary visual arts education a better understanding of the open questions that exist within contemporary studio art education. In this course students will conduct action research, converse with guest faculty, read influential philosophical texts, and create a Professional Teaching Portfolio. This integrated design will allow graduate students to become familiar with a variety of contextual factors that are woven into the learning of art at the college level, including artist-teacher narratives, postmodern theory, adolescent and adult development, creativity theory, and pedagogical paradigms. These explorations will provide a background for students to reflect on--and look critically at--their own experiences as practicing artists, students of studio art, and teaching interns in undergraduate courses.
This course has four interwoven parts. 1. Readings and discussions in the research and theory of power; adult and adolescent development; creativity and imagination; and education. 2. Action research involving looking closely at, and reflecting on, aspects of teaching and learning practices in Graduate Teaching Internships. 3. Presentations and conversations with MICA studio art faculty from all disciplines and levels of instruction. 4. Preparation in the writing of components for a Professional Teaching Portfolio appropriate for inclusion in an application for a college teaching position.
At the end of the third semester, all graduate students who have completed the Philosophy & Pedagogy course will be invited to apply for the Certificate. Then, before March 1st of their fourth semester, the invited graduate students will provide the Coordinator with a list of completed Graduate Teaching Internships and two recommendations from GTI mentoring faculty.
Awarding the Certificate in the College Teaching of Art:
If all of the above requirements are met, upon the conferring of the degree in Masters of Fine Arts, graduate students will earn the Certificate in the College Teaching of Art. A notation representing successful completion of the Certificate will appear on students' official transcripts and in the graduation ceremony program.
See also:Possible Progression for a Graduate Teaching Intern in an Undergraduate Studio Course
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