Beyond the Classroom

Beyond the Classroom banner

The UTSC Department of Political Science is excited to launch our 2024 Summer offering of our Beyond the Classroom experiential learning program. This program is an opportunity for first- and second- year students to take on volunteer opportunities during the summer within a structured, supervised internship that will help you acquire or refine important skills relevant to your programs and degree. Opportunities may include experience within political campaigns, government agencies and non-profit organizations. The department will also be providing you with a small stipend. This year, we will be offering a variety of placements with different workplace options (fully remote, in-person, hybrid). Please see below for more information.

Program Description:
With the assistance of integrated learning experience coordinators in the co-op office, students will be matched with an internship according to their interests in government, politics, political advocacy groups, or non-profit organizations. To complete this program, students must work a minimum of 80 hours during a 12-week term in the Summer. In addition to the volunteer commitment, students will be required to complete training in workshops organized by our department. These workshops will include tutorials on Excel spreadsheet usage, as well as on professional workplace conduct. Students and employers will periodically confirm satisfactory attendance and work performance during the term with our departmental program coordinator. Students will also be required to submit a written report in the form of a reflection paper on what they learned in their placements.

Funding:
Each student will receive a total of a $1250.00 stipend from our department during the term they complete their internship. $250.00 will be paid to each student when they complete the first set of skills workshops. The remaining $1000.00 will be given to students upon confirmation of a signed sheet attesting to the hours they worked from our placement partners and completing their final reflection paper.

Applicant eligibility requirements:

  • Must have a minimum CGPA of 2.5 as of the end of the 2023 Fall session
  • Must be enrolled in a program within the Department of Political Science

NOTE: While all students in the department are encouraged to apply, we will be prioritizing 1st and 2nd year student applications.

Applications steps:

  1. Complete an application form by end of day Monday March 25th via the following link:

https://rb.gy/boeyav

  1. Submit your résumé to Larysa.iarovenko@utoronto.ca by end of day Monday March 25th