SIE Basics
Internships are structured, supervised and last a minimum of 8 weeks. Experiences are structured, unsupervised and last a minimum of 4 weeks. We fund both, but the program preference is for internships.
Career Services has resources available to help you navigate your internship search process and identify internships that you are interested in applying for. These resources are:
Internship Database: The Internship Database is a searchable database of every internship conducted by a CMC student since 2013. You can filter through various internship positions that SIE students have held in the past. You can access the database here.
Career Coaches: Career coaching at CMC is organized by interest clusters and each Career Coach specializes in a few different cluster areas. If you’d like to talk to a Coach about internships, we encourage you to set up an appointment with the Coach whose interest cluster most closely aligns to your internship interest. Coaching appointments can be made via Handshake.
Career Service Mentors: Career Services Mentors are available in person for drop in appointments at the Soll Center, Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm.
Take a look at CMC’s Unique Opportunities Page for some interesting opportunities open only to CMC students.
For students specifically looking for international internships, excellent resources include Handshake, Omprakash and Interstride.
If you are unsure of what interest cluster applies to your internship search, or you are a First Year or Sophomore, please make an appointment with Jesal Patel (via Handshake).
It is never too early to start looking. However, many great opportunities don’t open until the spring. Talk to a career coach about each interest cluster’s internship recruitment timeline.
To apply for internship funding, you will need to submit your application on Survey Monkey Apply. To complete your application, you will require an offer letter from the organization, stating your start and end dates, job title, compensation (if any) and location. You will also need a description of the internship, your current resume, and your detailed estimated budget in order to complete the internship. Please refer to the SIE website for housing guide and budget guide resources.
To apply for experience funding, you will need to submit an initial application on Handshake in order for your proposal to be reviewed. Your detailed proposal will have multiple components that will be summarized within the application. You will also need a detailed estimated budget of expenses in Handshake. Please refer to the Experience policy document for more details about the application process.
Eligibility
Students must be enrolled in Spring 2024 and returning to CMC in the Fall to be eligible for SIE funding this summer.
We believe that earlier experiences are more transformative, particularly during the first two years of college. SIE funding is a limited pool of money. Therefore, we prioritize SIE funding for first and second years.
First-years and sophomores who are approved for funding and who are on financial aid are eligible to receive their full budget. All first-years and sophomores who are approved for funding with no financial need will have limited funding available.
Juniors are encouraged to apply and will be waitlisted for general funds until the first-years and sophomores have been funded. The waitlist process does not apply to Juniors receiving funding from participating Research Institutes and Centers.
Only students who are enrolled in the Spring semester AND returning to CMC as a student in the Fall are eligible for SIE funding.
Since the SIE program only has limited general funds and the program receives an increasing number of applications every year, SIE will take into consideration a student's financial aid status when making funding decisions.
Yes, you still need to apply to SIE. This is how you access your experiential learning stipend. Please contact Amy Flanagan, Director of Scholar Communities, at aflanagan@cmc.edu.
Yes, as long as your responsibilities are significantly different from those of a previous summer at the same organization.
Yes, you can use an internship provider to help you find your internship. However, the SIE program will generally not pay the 3rd Party Program fee. Look closely at what the organization provides and ask for an itemized list of what you are paying for. SIE will not cover the administrative cost that pays for the organization to find you an internship placement.
In general, no. The SIE program is unable to fund summer tuition or application fees for any programs or experiences. If you have any questions about whether this restriction pertains to your planned experience, contact Garineh Kouredjian (gkouredjian@cmc.edu).
Yes. There is a special exception for students whose summers are shortened by their study abroad commitments. As long as your internship is at least 6 weeks long, you may be considered for funding. But your award amount will be prorated accordingly.
Except for the above study abroad exception, internships must be 8 weeks long. Anything of less duration would be considered an experience. For clarification on internship vs experience please refer to the SIE BASICS Section above.
Location Considerations
No. SIE provides funding for in-person and hybrid internships only. For hybrid opportunities (part remote, part in-person), the terms of the hybrid offer must be reflected in the offer letter that is submitted as part of your SIE application. Funding is still based on the budget a student submits with their application including associated costs that are required to complete the internship.
Yes. Budget-based funding is available for in-person internships and experiences, both domestically and internationally. A defined list of approved international countries can be found here. These countries are approved for SIE funding and are subject to change, so please refer back to this link before finalizing your travel plans.
You will need a valid passport that does not expire within six months of travel to board an international flight. In addition, every country has its own visa requirements that vary depending on the citizenship of the traveler. Before submitting your SIE application, you will need to research your visa requirements ahead of time.
All international flights will be booked by the college on behalf of the student to facilitate last-minute flight changes and refunds as needed.
All international flights will be booked by the college on behalf of the student to facilitate any changes to schedule or refunds as needed. Students traveling internationally will be asked to provide the following information as part of their SIE application: a scanned copy of their passport basic information page, outbound and return travel details, and confirmation of contact details. Once booked, the travel agency will email the flight itinerary and e-ticket to the student.
SIE will only pay for housing when a student is required to move to complete the internship or experience. We will only consider funding housing in the same location as the internship.
SIE provides funding for in-person and hybrid internships only. Funding is based on the budget a student submits with their application including associated costs which are required to complete the internship. We, unfortunately, are not able to help offset "rent or utility charges" to support family members.
SIE offers a comprehensive housing guide with general advice as well as major city specific resources to help you research all the housing options available to you. In addition, we offer a SIE 2024 Google sheet for students seeking room/house mates for Summer Housing.
Application
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis when the application launches on February 12, 2024 and will close on April 30, 2024. In February, we invite you to submit your SIE application form on SMApply only when you have a confirmed internship or experience.
Please note we would like all SIE applications submitted by the deadline in order to give sufficient time to review applications prior to most internships starting by June 1st. We encourage you to give yourself enough time to apply, interview, apply to SIE for funding and hear back within 2-3 weeks prior to this end of April deadline.
Yes, a confirmed opportunity is a letter, email or other form of documentation that shows an offer has been made to the student by a company or center/institute/program that clearly states you have been awarded the opportunity to join their team. You will be asked to upload this document as a part of the SIE application.
We encourage you to take the time you need to apply to a wide range of opportunities, go on interviews and decide which opportunity is the best fit for you this summer prior to applying for funding. Please submit your application as soon as you have an offer letter in hand to ensure that you receive payment in a timely manner.
To apply for internship funding, you will need to submit your application on SMApply. To complete your application, you will require an offer letter from the organization, stating your start and end dates, job title, compensation (if any) and location. You will also need a description of the internship, your current resume, and your detailed estimated budget in order to complete the internship. Please refer to the SIE website for housing guide and budget guide resources.If you are applying for an international opportunity, you will also have to submit some additional information, including the Center for Disease Control and the State Department reports for your intended internship country.
To apply for experience funding, you will need to submit an initial application on Handshake in order for your proposal to be reviewed. Search for "SIE Experiences Application" under Jobs on Handshake. Your detailed proposal will have multiple components that will be summarized within the application. You will also need a detailed estimated budget of expenses in Handshake. Please refer to the SIE website for more details about the application process.
We can only accept one SIE application per student. If your internship plans radically change after you submit your application, immediately contact Garineh Kouredjian (gkouredjian@cmc.edu), Assistant Director for the SIE program, to discuss your application changes.
SIE funding is allocated based on an estimated budget that you provide. There will be a review process of the budget and any updates or changes will be shared with the student. There are sample budget templates in SMApply for you to use. Please refer to the Budget Guide which contains details on how to create a budget.
SMApply has a budget template for you to use. Please see the SIE Budget Guide for details. There will be a review process of the budget and any updates or changes will be communicated. If you have any other questions, contact Garineh Kouredjian (gkouredjian@cmc.edu).
Multiple Opportunities
SIE is a common application for all funding requests, no matter which program or funding source, including Appel Fellowship, Gould Creative Works Fellowship, Summer Research programs, and Partnered Internships with CMC Institutes and Centers. Each student is eligible for one stipend per summer.
Once you accept an internship or job offer, either verbally or in writing, an employment contract has been created. Before you say “yes” to an offer, consider your options carefully and ask for more time to make your decision if you need it. If you do accept an offer, you have made a commitment to that employer and you should discontinue interviewing with all other employers, including those who come through to campus. Failure to adhere to your responsibilities may lead to a series of consequences, including the revoking of your SIE funding.
Yes, however, SIE will only be able to fund one internship or experience.
Funding
SIE is not able to fund any academic tuition or program fees.
Your award letter directs you back into SMApply for some additional tasks that need to be completed. This includes a confidential Qualtrics form where you will enter additional information to allow us to deposit a payment into your bank account. Once these additional tasks are complete and you hit the submit button, your stipend will be processed. Processing of payment takes approximately two weeks.
Yes, if you receive any compensation (i.e., salary, housing stipend, transportation stipend, signing bonus) from your employer, you will include that revenue in your budget. If your proposal is selected for funding, we may reduce your award amount, depending on your compensation and related expenses. Be sure to include any anticipated compensation form your host organization in your budget and in your application. Please refer to the budget guide for more information.
It may, depending on your internship expenses. As such, you must report all sources of internship funding on your SIE application.
Unfortunately SIE is unable to offer "start-up" costs to support travel or deposits for housing. CMC offers short-term loans without interest. You can find more details on the Financial Aid website.
Students with financial need can apply for emergency funding to assist them with essential purchases such as business attire and IT equipment. Please select either "CMC Emergency Fund" or "Technology Needs" on this form.
If you receive an SIE stipend, you will need to complete a brief online survey at the end of the summer. You will be reminded of this through email and provided the link. This survey is an important way for the college to gather key data that we can share with the donors who make the summer funding possible.
International Students
For international students returning to their home country for the summer, SIE will not fund an international student’s airfare back to their home country in order to do a domestic internship. SIE will, however, fund other costs that are directly incurred and required to complete the internship.
You would apply for domestic funding.
Yes, all international students are eligible to undertake a summer internship using Curricular Practical Training (CPT) so long as they have a valid work visa. Please contact the CMC DSO (Designated School Official) - Taivna Mills - for specific questions related to your visa status.
Internship Credit
Both are CMC courses. INT 98 awards a note on your student transcript, but no academic credit. INT 198 awards academic credit for internships and is taken during the summer. For both, the assignments are due in September 2024.
Go to the CMC Registrar’s website to learn more about your internship registration options, and to register.
You are responsible for finding your own faculty reader for INT 198 and INT 199.
