University of Washington Museology Graduate Program
Ongoing
The University of Washington’s Museology Graduate Program seeks community partners for its Paid Internship Pilot. The UW Museology Paid Internship Pilot aims to create critical learning opportunities for graduate students while providing an important service to museums and non-profit organizations.
The UW Museology Graduate Program is a two-year, full-time, interdisciplinary graduate program that encourages innovation, critical thinking and leadership.
Many museum professionals enter the field because they are passionate about supporting museums and their local communities, but the prevalence of unpaid internships in the field can pose a significant barrier for even the most enthusiastic emerging professional. In fact, unpaid internships may widen the opportunity gap for underrepresented students.
This three-year pilot, funded by the University of Washington Museology Graduate Program, invites collaboration to mitigate financial barriers in our field by providing paid internship opportunities for Museology students. UW Museology will reimburse 50-100% of intern stipends at the rate of $18/hr. Cost sharing is not required to participate, but we encourage organizations to contribute what they can and increase their contribution over time as we work toward a common goal of developing capacity for paid internships across our field. The number of paid hours per internship will be determined in consultation with the Museology Internship Coordinator, not to exceed 90 hours per year for each student.
We seek organizations that promote a collaborative learning environment for students to apply best practices in the museum profession, with a focus on the ways that museums build stronger communities. Organizations are invited to submit an application for the 2018-2019 academic year.
The application process:
- Community organizations submit application.
- Eligible organizations are invited to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to participate in the paid internship pilot.
- Organizations submit an internship description.
- Museology approves internship description and distributes to museology students.
- Organizations select intern.
- Organizations submit invoice(s) to museology for reimbursement.
Please direct questions to museint@uw.edu.