International Academic Internships

Annual Report 2006-07

MISSION STATEMENT
The collaborative International Academic Internships (IAI) program seeks to develop an innovative,
targeted program – and eventually a center – that will accelerate internationalization at UW-Madison
through academically rigorous, for-credit internship opportunities for select UW-Madison students.
Through these internships, the IAI will be:

• Reinforcing students’ academic experiences and advancing their professional training;

• Fostering global competence and international literacy;
• Leveraging relationships with external partners and establishing value-added relationships with
key international organizations and alumni.

INTRODUCTION
In 2003 a task force was formed at the request of International Studies (IS) Dean, Dr Gilles Bousquet.
The findings of this group were released in May, reporting that while international internships existed
at UW-Madison and peer institutions, they were uncommon and provided opportunities to only a small
segment of the student population. In addition, many internships lacked an academic component and
the possibility for students to earn credit for their experience.

Following these observations and recommendations, the International Academic Internship Initiative
(IAII) was established in the fall of 2005. Its creation was a partnership with the School of Business,
the College of Engineering, the Institute for Cross-College Biology Education, Global Studies, the
Center for East Asian Studies, and the Center for European Studies. Each of these units contributed
financial, logistical, administrative and in-kind support to the initiative. Additional support was given
by Promega and Toshiba, and Arrow Financial Services’ CEO Mr. Jack Lavin.

The inaugural summer was headed by MHR Professor Loren Kuzuhara from the School of Business
and Mark Lilleleht from the IS unit Global Studies. Seven interns were placed; four working for
Central Japan Railways in Tokyo, two students at Toshiba also in Tokyo and one in The Netherlands at
Promega’s Leiden offices.

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For 2007, the program expanded the internship opportunities and was able to offer placements to
sixteen UW-Madison students; thirteen for the summer months and three for the fall semester. The
providers included private corporations, not-for-profit organizations and state funded units.

Due to changing needs on the UW-Madison campus, over the summer months coordination was
transferred from the team of Dr. Kuzuhara and Mr. Lilleleht. From 2008, the program will be housed
in International Academic Programs, a unit headed by Dr. Rob Howell within the Division of
International Studies. IAP assistant director Michael Morris will oversee daily activity and
communication for the program. With this change in administration also comes a different program
name, the IAII now known as simply International Academic Internships (IAI).

THE INTERNSHIPS
Any UW-Madison student with sophomore standing or above and at least a 3.0 overall GPA is eligible
to participate. As was the case with its creation, IAI seeks to encompass a wide variety of academic
disciplines and welcomes applications from virtually any college or department on campus. Placement
of applicants is overseen by the IAP office with the final decisions made in consultation with the
prospective employer. The requirements for appropriate review and matching are time consuming and
labor intensive, making it necessary for students to apply by December for summer placements.

This year each participant worked under a designated on-site supervisor who was responsible for the
basic content, expectations and requirements of the internship. The academic component was overseen
by Professor Kuzuhara and consisted of weekly teleconferences, during which pertinent issues and
concerns related to their internship could be addressed. Receipt of UW-Madison credit (3 hours) also
required participation in the pre-departure orientation program, submission of a reflection paper and a
Work Portfolio Project, and final presentation made upon return to campus. Internship supervisors
provided evaluations which too were factored into the grade received.

The program fee assessed for 2007 participants ranged from $2,500 to $3,000 depending on residency.
These amounts included 3 credit hours of tuition, administrative costs, local orientation program and
international health insurance. Additional expenses varied widely, in part due to the location of
internship and personal choices made while overseas, but averaged approximately $5,500 per student.
Nine of the sponsoring companies provided compensation to UW-Madison interns. The specific
package varied with each employer but most covered housing and local transportation costs at the
minimum.

To further reduce costs, scholarships were again made available through the generous financial support
of Toshiba, Promega and Mr. Jack Lavin, President and CEO of Arrow Financial Services. 11 of the
16 participants (70%) received money from these funds with an average award amount of almost
$2,000. Interns for 2008 will again be eligible for these awards in addition to the portfolio of
scholarships available through IAP.

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2007 SUMMARY

UW-Madison College Gender

Letters & Sciences 7 (44%) Male 12 (75%)
Business 5 (31%) Female 4 (25%)
Engineering 3 (19%)
Social Work 1 (6%)

Classification Residency
Junior 5 (31%) Wisconsin 13 (81%)
Senior 8 (50%) Minnesota 2 (13%)
Graduate 2 (13%) Non-Resident 1 (6%)

2007 Interns
Jenna Acker is a Psychology major from Verona, Wisconsin in her third year at UW-Madison at the
time of her participation. Jenna worked in Madison for Friends of Chernobyl Centers U.S. (FOCCUS),
a not-for-profit organization charged with strengthening recovery efforts of individuals and
communities affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Jenna’s international interests have taken her
even further this fall, as she participates in the IAP semester in Florence, Italy.

Kyle Bender comes from Rochester, Minnesota and is a Senior in Marketing and International
Business. His internship was with Central Japan Railway Company (東海旅客鉄道株式会社), one of
a group of eight for-profit transportation companies that specializes in the development and oversight
of Japan’s high-speed trains, the shinkansenin.

Megan Bender interned with Abbott Labs, a diversified pharmaceuticals and health care company
operating in more than 130 countries. Megan was placed in Tanzania, more than 8,000 miles from her
home town of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. As a Senior in Geological Engineering, Geology and
Geophysics, Megan used her knowledge to address water purification concerns at Dar es Salaam’s
Muhimbili Hospital.

Zach Clemens is a Senior triple majoring in International Business, MHR, and Real Estate and Urban
Land Economics. Zach has one of three internships spanning the Fall of 2007. He is working with the
PT Bakrie Telecom in Jakarta, Indonesia. This Dane, Wisconsin native has been placed in the
Corporate Communications Department of this pioneer in Indonesia 's telecommunication industry.

Ben Hesprich came to UW-Madison from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and wound up in Madrid, Spain in
the Fall of 2007. This MHR Senior in the School of Business is employed another Wisconsin native,
the Promega Corporation, a global leader and innovator in solutions and technical support to the life
sciences industry.

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Sofian Kasan Hidayat returned to his home country of Indonesia this summer to intern at another
subsidiary of the multinational Bakrie Group. This graduate student in Civil and Environmental
Engineering was based in the city of Pontianak, where he assisted operations of PT Bumi Resources
and their work at one of the world’s largest coal mines.

Kristin Kroes, a Senior in Marketing at UW, also participated in an internship with ties to home. This
native of Racine, Wisconsin worked in Singapore’s offices of JohnsonDiversey, a world leader in
commercial cleaning and hygiene products which has its global headquarters just down the road in the
town of Sturtevant.

Fred Lauer of Eau Claire, Wisconsin is one of two UW students to receive an internship with the
Toshiba Corporation (株式会社東芝)in Japan. Fred was involved in a variety of activities in their
Tokyo headquarters, capitalizing on the language skills he has acquired in his four years as a Japanese
and East Asian Studies major.

Allison Loomis was the recipient of another position with Central Japan Railway Company in Tokyo.
Allison is from La Crosse, Wisconsin and is doing a Master of Social Work in Madison. Like the other
interns at JR Central, Allison worked in numerous aspects of operations, including corporate offices in
Tokyo and the world’s largest railway station in Nagoya.

Stan Makarenko comes to UW-Madison from the Wisconsin town of Oak Creek. He had completed
his Junior year in International Studies before accepting the second internship provided by FOCCUS.
Stan built upon his varied background while assisting the organization with the challenges of work in a
cross-cultural environment.

Robert Osborn is the first IAI participant to South America. Coming to UW from Austin, Texas
Robert is in both the College of Letters and Sciences and the School of Business as he completes his
degrees in International Business as well as Real Estate & Urban Land Economics. His internship has
been made possible LINCA International, a business consulting company in Porto Alegre that focuses
English language and global communication services.

Dean Sayre received his BS in Medical Microbiology and Immunology in May of 2007 but returns to
UW to take an internship in Senegal. This former resident of Mineral Point, Wisconsin will assist
researchers in the Pasteur Institute’s Dakar facility during the fall and winter months.

David Scharfman worked closest to the UW campus but made international contributions to the
Wisconsin Department of Commerce during the summer of 2007. A native of Madison, David is
beginning his Senior year in Chinese and Political Science. Much of David’s time was spent in the
Department’s International Division, working on the creation of cultural briefs for use in trade
relations and delegations.

Matt Underwood is in his fourth year of Economics studies at UW, coming from northern city of Osh
Kosh. Matt’s internship was in the city Qing Dao, located in the Shandong Province of China. Matt
used his academic background and knowledge of U.S. business practices to conduct marketing analysis
for the manufacturer Great Precision Moulds.

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Dante West received the third internship with JR Central. Like Allison and Kyle, this Political Science
Senior from Madison was immersed in a wide variety of activities both in Tokyo and across the
country. This was the second year for quality opportunities made possible by Japan Central, most
notably Mr. Yoshiyuki Kasai, a UW-Madison alumn and President of JRC.

Allen Yau comes from Milwaukee and is a Senior majoring in Industrial Engineering. His knowledge
in this field, and his work towards a Certificate in Technical Japanese made him a natural choice for
the second internship generously offered by Toshiba. Allen also worked in the Tokyo offices, assisting
in their Corporate Procurement division.

2007 Internship Sponsors and Supporters

None of the goals set forth by the 2003 task force, the Division of International Studies, and the UW-
Madison units with which it partnered could have been realized alone. Success has come from those
invaluable units, organizations and individuals who share an understanding of the positive impact these
internships have on all that are involved. Below is a partial list of IAI’s partners and colleagues.

External
Promega
L’Institut Pasteur http://www.promega.com/
http://www.pasteur.sn/
Arrow Financial Services
LINCA International http://www.arrow-financial.com/
http://www2.linca.com.br/en/
UW-Madison
Toshiba
http://www.toshiba.co.jp/worldwide/index.html Center for East Asian Studies
http://eastasia.wisc.edu/
Japan Central Railways
http://jr-central.co.jp/eng.nsf Center for European Studies
http://uw-madison-ces.org/
Great Precision Moulds
higrademould@hotmail.com College of Engineering
http://www.engr.wisc.edu/
Abbott Laboratories
http://www.abbott.com/ Division of International Studies
http://international.wisc.edu/
JohnsonDiversey
http://www.johnsondiversey.com/ Global Studies
http://global.wisc.edu/
FOCCUS
http://www.madison.com/communities/foccus/ Institute for Cross-College Biology Education
http://www.biology.wisc.edu/ICBE/
WI Dept of Commerce
http://www.commerce.state.wi.us/ School of Business
http://www.bus.wisc.edu/
The Bakrie Group
http://www.bakrie-brothers.com/
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The staff of International Academic Programs is very grateful to Professor Kuzuhara and Mr. Lilleleht
for the time and energy put in to making this initiative a success these first two years. For 2008 the
basic workings ofthe program will remain the same, including eligibility, selection and placement,
orientation and re-entry. Academic oversight for next summer's participants will be arranged with
UW-Madison faculty recruited when a student from their discipline participates. Always conscious of
costs, the fees associated with IAI will remain minimal and competitive, increasing only as needed to
continue and improve the program. Scholarships will increase as new sources of funding, such as the
lAP Merit, are made available to participants.

The number and variety of opportunities will continue to grow for 2008. We seek to both continue and
strengthen relationships with existing internship providers, and to seek out new companies and
organizations interested in being a part of this unique and beneficial program. Of particular interest is
locating internships in a greater variety of areas including the life and natural sciences, the humanities
and social sciences. Our belief in the value of this experience mandates we strive to create quality
internships that benefit the student, the company and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.