ASPSU Interns

Please do all of the below items on the internship beginner checklist:

• Fill out the Internship Placement Form - here you will select your committee and group project placement!

• Join the ASPSU Slack Channel - this is our primary tool for communication!

• Download the Slack desktop and phone app - we need you to receive notifications so you can stay in the loop!

• Add the ASPSU Calendar to your Google Calendar - this is where you will find zoom links for ASPSU events and meetings!

How do I earn my 6 intern hours per week?

Every week you will need to earn 6 hours worth of intern time that can be acquired a variety of ways. A primary source of your hours will come from attending your committee meeting, working on your internship group project, and doing any other projects related to your ASPSU committee work. In addition, you can earn hours attending events on campus and in the community, watching documentaries or listening to podcasts related to student movements and politics, working on campaigns, attending local and state government meetings, etc.

Examples of things that count towards your hours:

• Attending ASPSU meetings or events of any kind

• Attending campus events and educational programs to learn more about politics, society, culture, etc.

• Going to political community events (ie police contract forum, candidate forum)

• Helping local political candidates (ie canvassing, phone banking, volunteering with a campaign)

• Attending cultural events put on by student groups on campus

Examples of things that do NOT count towards your hours:

• Time spent working on your journals or research paper

• Going to events that are not connected to a political, social, or cultural learning purpose

If you have a question about whether something can count towards your hours, just ask!

As you will note, none of these were listed on your Intern Placement Selection Form and any projects for these committees will be assigned on an as needed basis. Depending on what they are working on, they may ask interns to help with certain projects or event planning.

Why do I need to use the ASPSU Slack?

In ASPSU we use Slack as our primary means of communication—even more these days since going remote! When you join you will need to be in the #interns channel where I will post information from time to time, and other members of ASPSU can go post information in the channel to request your help on a project that you can count towards your intern hours. Plus, you will join the Slack channel of your committee placement to communicate about various activities and duties. You can also create a group chat for you and your group project team, and easily contact Candace via private message to get a quicker response. Please make sure to download the desktop and phone apps which make it much easier to use and navigate, and turn on the notifications!

What do I do when I attend other ASPSU meetings or events?

Attending any ASPSU meeting (Senate, SFC, JRB, etc) or event (Town Hall, etc) can count towards your required intern hours each week. At these meetings you will be participating as a member of the public. This means you are welcome to attend but you should not speak other than in public comment. However, you'll find that there will can be opportunities offered by chairs of these meetings for you to join the conversation and participate. Follow their lead, and you're welcome to ask if you can participate in the discussion and the committee will decide if they will allow it, just like any other member of the public during these meetings.

How do I participate in my assigned ASPSU committee?

As an intern, you will be joining one of the 8 ASPSU committees and participating as if you were a senator. Directors may assign you tasks, you may work on projects with other senators on the committee, and more. The committees you have the ability to join are the following:

• Academic Affairs Committee

• University Affairs Committee

• Equal Rights Advocacy Committee

• Sustainability Affairs Committee

• Legislative Affairs Committee

• Multicultural Affairs Committee

• Student Life Committee

• International Affairs Committee

There are other meetings and committees within ASPSU where as interns you can attend and be a guest in those spaces, but you are not necessarily a member of the committee. In these meetings you are welcome to comment on what is being discussed only if you ask for permission to engage first via the chair of that committee. These committees have exclusive speaking rights to members of the committee, and any other attendees can speak openly during public comment sections. The committees you are the ability to attend are the following:

• Senate

• Executive Committee

• Student Fee Committee

• Judicial Review Board

A major portion of your hours will be acquired working on this project with your fellow interns. In groups, you will create a proposal for a possible ASPSU initiative related to the committee(s) you are participating in for your internship class. You can use the hours you spend researching and putting together the work for your internship hours. The proposal can be something actually happening in ASPSU or something the group would like to see happen (in other words, it doesn’t have to actually be acted on).

You will be matched with your group during the second week of classes. You will need to work together on your proposal throughout the term and turn in and present a slide show that covers the following topics:

• What is the issue/need/problem you are trying to address?

• Who are the stakeholders? Put them in categories based on the handout provided in class.

• Who are the decision makers that can help make the change on campus? Using the stages of change model, how would you describe their current attitude towards working on change? What evidence do you have that this is their thinking? How would you propose interacting with them to make change?

• How would you engage the other stakeholders based on the categories you put them in?

• What step should ASPSU take next?

• Draft a possible ASPSU Senate resolution or write why a resolution would not work in this situation.

Click here to see contact information for your group members!