Community Internship and Partnerships for SDGs (3002LFC)

The Community Internship course provides students with an opportunity to combine their scholarly learning with a real-world experience in a community-based organisation that supports their professional and personal development. To solve the grand challenges facing societies around the world the next generation of leaders, innovators and decision makers will need knowledge and skills to partner with other organisations to make lasting change. The Sustainable Development Goals provides a compass for thinking and designing for impact in our communities that have global relevance. This course will provide students with the opportunity to select a volunteer position of their choice from a range of community not-for-profit organisations. Student's assessments are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. This 10CP free-choice elective course is available to all students who have completed a minimum of 80CP of study. It provides an opportunity for students to develop a range of professional and personal skills while making a difference in their community through combining volunteering with academic learning through a community internship. Internships are organised by the University, or the student may use a current volunteering activity, for the 50-hour minimum volunteering component of the course. The activity may be related to the student's discipline studies or could be an opportunity to explore working with an organisation outside of their normal discipline learning context. Community Partners who have joined with the University to offer volunteering internships to students include organisations, schools, government departments and corporations engaged in not-for-profit community activities. The community-based volunteering is aligned with a structured academic program of learning that provides insight into the student's role in the world and explores a range of issues that relate to improving a variety of community needs. Other University areas may use the Community Internship course as the academic structure for community-based domestic or international volunteering activities. In those circumstances, students will receive additional guidelines regarding how those activities fit with the Community Internship, including specific assessment requirements.] The course will help you to develop a range of professional and personal skills which are attractive to employers, but more importantly, help to develop students as contributing citizens with a broader understanding of social issues. Students will explore: The importance of social structures and the role of community organisations in society and/or need to be involved in protecting the wider environment. The impact professionals can make in contributing to a fair society and protection of the planet; "Community Internship was THE best thing I've done in my life! It broadened my social conscience, I saw how my actions make a real impact on a child's life, and it influenced my career. It opened my eyes to inclusive practice which is now a life-long commitment for my personal and professional life." Phillip Poulton, Bachelor of Music (Southbank)

Course study information

Course offerings and timetables