Internship Initiative: Career Connection

Learn about Career Connection's Internship Initiative.

Internship opportunities allow employees to work part time in other UCSD departments to obtain skills and knowledge needed for career enhancement. The Internship Initiative is a Career Connection program that creates internship opportunities for employees, while offering support for their training and career development.

Purpose

The Internship Initiative develops, diversifies, and retains talent at UCSD and provides a mechanism for accomplishing significant projects. The internship initiative:

• Develops the careers of, and retains, high-potential employees
• Promotes workforce diversity
• Uses employees already familiar with UCSD to perform important campus projects
• Increases collaboration across vice chancellor areas

Eligibility

UCSD career employees who have completed their probationary period, are committed to University of California employment, have achieved ratings of “met expectations” or ”solid performance” or better on their most recent performance evaluation, and are seeking advancement to a higher-level position are eligible to compete for current internships.

Duration

Internships can last from three to twelve months at 25% to 50% time. As internships are announced, specific information will be provided about the proposed duration.

Payment

Interns are paid at the same rate as their current classification. The home department continues to be responsible for the intern's benefits. A portion of the intern's time is spent at the internship; the balance of the appointment is spent in the current position (at a reduced percentage of time). The Internship Initiative and the sponsoring department financially compensate the home department for the intern's time away.

Benefits to departments that sponsor internships

• New perspectives on current projects
• Additional personnel at a relatively low cost
• Financial assistance for formal training of the intern, including classes and conferences

Benefits to departments that release employees

• Interns gain a new set of skills and knowledge that they can apply in their home department.
• The home department receives financial assistance to compensate for the intern's time away from the office.
• Career Connection staff provide assistance with reviewing and assessing options for temporarily replacing the intern.

Notice: The information on this page summarizes provisions of university policies and/or collective bargaining agreements. Refer to the Personnel Policies for Staff Members (PPSM) or applicable collective bargaining agreement for full text of referenced information.

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