Career Services

Mission Statement: The mission of the Office of Career Services and Internships is to provide students and alumni the resources, guidance, and opportunities to make career decisions, which will engage them in productive and fulfilling work.

The Office of Career Services and Internships supports students and alumni in the development and achievement of career decisions and goals. The University is dedicated to providing resources to enhance students’ knowledge in the areas of career exploration, job search skills, and information on employment and internship opportunities.

Services are provided to all Cumberland students and graduates and include:

Self-assessment and Career Planning
Internship and Job Postings
Resume and Cover Letter Review
Graduate School Preparation
Career-Related Workshops

Location

Learning & Career Commons, Office 202

One Cumberland Square

Lebanon, TN 37087

Hours: Please contact Career Services at lblevins@cumberland.edu or 615-547-1357 to schedule a meeting.

Internships

Welcome to the Internship Program of Cumberland University. Your time as an intern will be one of the most beneficial parts of your learning experience during college. While each academic department constructs its own learning goals and grading criteria for its interns, the management of the internship program is assumed by the Office of Career Services and Internships. The Internship Coordinator is here to assist you in any way possible to make your internship work for you, both as a career assessment tool, and as an important credential as you work toward your career goals.

What is an Internship? Internships require students to be more responsible and aware of the given environment. During the internship phase, students apply skills learned through classes and other experiences where he/she has to work directly under the employer. An internship is not part of an academic course, but is the academic course.

Students participating in an internship may or may not be paid. Most organizations require that students seek academic credit for the experience. Along with this requirement, students not receiving compensation are required to have their employer sign the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Students may also be required by faculty sponsors to submit assignments or special projects based on information gathered during the internship experience.

Finding an Internship

All internships are posted online at HireCU. Please check the site daily for new listings.
Talk to professors, family, and friends for ideas. Some of the best internships and jobs are found through NETWORKING!
Think outside the box! If you have an idea but do not see a listing, please talk to the Internship Coordinator. Do not limit yourself to just Lebanon or Wilson County. Internships can be served anywhere!

Qualifications

Students must be a junior or senior (Students may be assigned an internship as an extenuating circumstance by approval of the school Dean and Director of Career Services and Internships).
Students must be in good standing with the university.
Students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or above.
Internships must be directly related to your major, minor, or occupational goal, and approved by a faculty sponsor.
No internship will be held over a 2-semester window. Each will take place during a single semester only (for financial aid and audit purposes).
Employers must be willing to enter in the “Internship Learning Contract” with Cumberland University.

Credit Offering and Grading

The credits awarded are determined according to the hours worked on site per semester:
- 1 credit=50 minimum hours
- 2 credits=100 minimum hours
- 3 credits=150 minimum hours
NOTE: Hours worked on site may vary among departments based on accreditation standards and/or other extenuating circumstances as determined by the school Dean and Director of Career Services and Internships.
- Two weeks prior to the semester end, interns and site supervisors are required to complete an evaluation. The purpose of the evaluation is to review employer and student involvement and overall internship work experience.
- Employer and student evaluations of internship experience will be forwarded to faculty sponsors upon the completion of internship.
- Once faculty members receive evaluations, a pass/fail grade may be entered. Incompleteness is not given for Internships.

Internship Process

The following information describes the internship process for student and faculty involvement. Please refer to this information when talking to students.

Refer all students who are required to take or interested in serving an internship to Courtney Vick, Director of Career Services & Internships.
Interns must schedule a meeting to discuss all paperwork & procedures. After securing a site, interns must complete the learning contract available from the Internship Coordinator. Student, employer, faculty sponsor, and Internship Coordinator will complete and sign the contract. Please complete contract in the following order:
- The student is responsible for completing contact information and learning objectives.
- Employers will complete the internship responsibilities and Fair Labor Standards Act (unpaid internship only).
- Faculty sponsor will complete the academic criteria section (what I want my student to learn and experience from the internship).
- After all sections of the contract are complete, the Internship Coordinator will sign off on the contract.
Interns will register for the course by obtaining a paper registration approval slip from the Internship Coordinator. The registration approval slip will then be taken to the Registrar’s office to be added to the student’s schedule.
Students MUST serve an internship during the semester they register for the course. Students are NOT allowed to serve an internship in one semester and register/pay for the course in another semester.
Interns are required to complete the minimum on site hours needed for internship credit.
- 1 credit=50 minimum hours
- 2 credits=100 minimum hours
- 3 credits=150 minimum hours
Two weeks prior to the semester end, interns and site supervisors are required to complete an evaluation. The purpose of the evaluation is to review employer and student involvement and overall internship work experience.
Employer and student evaluations of the internship experience will be forwarded to faculty sponsors upon the completion of internship.
Once the faculty sponsor receives the evaluations, a pass/fail grade may be entered.

Internship Paperwork

All students who plan to complete an internship need to meet with Ms. LeAnn Blevins, Director of Career Services and Internships. During this meeting, the potential intern will go over internship paperwork that will be used to register the student prior to the start of the semester. In addition, there will be documentation that will need to be completed during the internship. To schedule a meeting, please email lblevins@cumberland.edu.

Focus 2 Assessment

Career Services offers you an online, self-guided, interactive program designed to help you select the right college major and plan your career based on your personal interests, values, skills, personality, and goals.

Click here to start your FOCUS 2 Assessment
Returning FOCUS-2 users may log in here.
Questions? - If you have any questions about FOCUS-2, please contact the Office of Career Services and Internships located in the Learning and Career Commons, office 202 or by phone at (615) 547-1357 or by email at lblevins@cumberland.edu.

First-Time Users

To create a new user account, click the link below and enter the following passcode: bulldogs
https://www.focus2career.com/Portal/Register.cfm?SID=1319
Be sure to remember your personal username and password (Career Services will not have it).
We suggest you begin by working on the section detailed below. You do not have to complete every section. Select the ones that best meet your needs. You can exit and return to the program at any time. Each section takes 10 to 15 minutes; the whole program takes about two hours to complete.
When finished, print your completed reports and/or portfolio. If you would like to schedule an appointment to discuss your report, please call the Office of Career Services and Internships (615-547-1357) to schedule an appointment.
Now you are ready to enter the FOCUS2 site to register as a first-time user.

Freshmen and Sophomores

FOCUS-2 can help you select majors and consolidate career goals.
Work on as many sections as you can in both the Career Readiness and Self Assessment categories. If you are trying to select your major, we highly recommend the 'Academic Strengths' section, as well as five sections in the Self Assessment category.

Juniors, Seniors, and Alumni

FOCUS-2 can help you plan your job and/or graduate school search. Start with the 'Your Career Planning Status' in the Career Readiness category. If your scores are in the medium or low range, we highly recommend you complete the five sections in the Self-Assessment category.
Click on the 'Combine the Results of Multiple Assessments' to see how all of your results work together. This will generate a list of occupations related to your assessment results.
Once you have an understanding of your interests, personality, skills, values & leisure interests, use the 'Explore the Possibilities Section to research potential careers. This section provides information about each career, including educational background and salary information. You can also complete a side-by-side comparison of careers.
If you would like, you can consolidate all of your reports into a portfolio in the 'Personal Portfolio' section. We recommend you do this step if you have completed most or all of the assessment sections. If you have only taken one or two sections, it may not be necessary.