DESCRIPTION
The Israel Internship is designed to offer a meaningful work
experience, which provides concrete support for the Hillel, and offers students
opportunities for both learning and professional growth. This role requires
strong interpersonal skills, and inner drive. The requirements are both
relational and research based which calls for a student who is flexible and
motivated. At the end of the academic year each Israel Intern will compile
their Year in Review project. The Year in Review will serve as the student’s
portfolio and as a new resource for the Hillel. Each year the Israel Intern
will build on the information gathered and created by previous interns. This
internship is being offered in partnership with Hineinu and the Israel Action
Network.
REQUIREMENTS
Strategic Networking
Influential Groups
Create profiles of all of the
influential student groups on campus. This should include groups of any
interest area. For each group, you will complete an Influential Group Profile.
These will serve to help you and Hillel in forming partnerships, co-sponsoring
events, and for networking. You will be provided with a template for how these
will be formatted.
Influential Individuals
Create profiles of all of the
influential individuals on campus. For each individual, you will complete an
Influential Individual Profile. Leaders can shape a campus community and
understanding the leaders on campus will help you understand the campus
community, trends, and give you the opportunity to engage across differences. You
will be provided with a template for how these will be formatted.
Trending Issues on Campus
Track and document the trending
issues on campus. University campuses tend to have topics or causes that trend
each year. You will create a Campus Trend page for each trending topic on your
campus. These will give you and Hillel knowledge to stay on the cutting edge of
campus interest, and to help inform what kinds of programs might appeal to your
campus community. You will be provided with a template for how these should be
formatted.
Student Government Whip Sheet
Create a whip sheet of student
government, including their stance on BDS. Understanding the profile of student
government is crucial to successfully addressing campus concerns or advocating
for issues affecting the student body. This becomes particularly helpful should
an anti-Israel resolution be introduced into student government. Understanding
the elected officials who represent the student body makes addressing such
challenges much easier. You will be provided with a Google Sheet to complete
for this assignment.
Strategic Communication
Teaching About Israel
Research which faculty are
teaching about Israel and in which classes, including those who are anti-Israel.
This will include classes that are not specifically about Israel, but where the
teacher uses Israel as an example or as a topic anyway. Additionally, you will
research the messages that they are delivering. This will help provide a
clearer picture of climate surrounding Israel on campus and where students are
getting their information. You will be provided with a template for how these should
be formatted.
University Partnerships
Research the existing University
partnerships with Israel. Through scholarships, research funding, academic
exchanges, etc. Universities often partner with foreign nations to increase the
capacity of the school. Additionally, you will research and create a report
about the top ten corporate partners and the investments, jobs, funding, and
scholarships come from that partnership. Also, look into the university’s
relationship with businesses that are commonly named in BDS resolutions and
referenda. You will be provided with a template for how these will be
formatted.
University Stance on Israel
Keep a record of any statements or
positions that the university has issued about Israel or anti-Israel, or
anti-Semitic activity. You will be provided with a template for how these will
be formatted.
Strategic Institutional Engagement
Bias Incidents Management
Investigate how the university
records and documents anti-Israel and anti-Jewish activity. This report will
also include figuring out how frequently these issues are reported. You will be
provided with a template for how this will be formatted.
Anti-Semitism in Diversity
Training
All incoming students and staff
are usually presented with diversity training. Investigate whether the training
includes anti-Semitism or mentions Jewish challenges specifically. You will be
provided with a template for how these will be formatted.
Israel Round Table
Organize and coordinate regular
meetings with the leadership of other Israel related groups on campus. The goal
of these meetings is to keep the groups in constant communication with one
another to foster relationships and stronger programming overall.
Strategic Communication
Teaching About Israel
Research which faculty are
teaching about Israel and in which classes, including those who are anti-Israel.
This will include classes that are not specifically about Israel, but where the
teacher uses Israel as an example or as a topic anyway. Additionally, you will
research the messages that they are delivering. This will help provide a
clearer picture of climate surrounding Israel on campus and where students are
getting their information. You will be provided with a template for how these should
be formatted.
University Partnerships
Research the existing University
partnerships with Israel. Through scholarships, research funding, academic
exchanges, etc. Universities often partner with foreign nations to increase the
capacity of the school. Additionally, you will research and create a report
about the top ten corporate partners and the investments, jobs, funding, and
scholarships come from that partnership. Also, look into the university’s
relationship with businesses that are commonly named in BDS resolutions and
referenda. You will be provided with a template for how these will be
formatted.
University Stance on Israel
Keep a record of any statements or
positions that the university has issued about Israel or anti-Israel, or
anti-Semitic activity. You will be provided with a template for how these will
be formatted.
Strategic Institutional Engagement
Bias Incidents Management
Investigate how the university
records and documents anti-Israel and anti-Jewish activity. This report will
also include figuring out how frequently these issues are reported. You will be
provided with a template for how this will be formatted.
Anti-Semitism in Diversity
Training
All incoming students and staff
are usually presented with diversity training. Investigate whether the training
includes anti-Semitism or mentions Jewish challenges specifically. You will be
provided with a template for how these will be formatted.
Addressing Anti-Israel Activity
Anti-Israel or anti-Jewish Activity of Any
Kind
Any anti-Israel or anti-Jewish
activity should be reported to IEC and your campus supervisor as soon as you
hear of it. This includes screenshots from social media, fliers, posters,
speakers, quotations, classroom misinformation, etc. It is your responsibility
to share this information immediately. Most anti- activity does not need a response,
but all together it can create a pattern that does require some kind of response
or action. Any response will be decided in coordination with supervision and
Hillel staff.
Anti-Israel Referenda or Resolutions
In the event of an anti-Israel
resolution or referendum, you will work closely with the Hillel leadership to
bring your expertise from your internship work, to help coordinate and lead on a
response.
Additional Responsibilities
1 large Israel related program
per term
Minimum
of 3 non-Jewish/Israel related co-sponsors
These programs should follow your
areas of interest, but include an Israel related thread throughout. For
example, you could do a program about water conservation and feature a speaker
who is an expert on Israeli desalinization technology, and you could partner
with the environmental club, the engineering school, and a club for
hydrologists.
1 Israel related article per
term
Submitted to the
campus newspaper.
This article should be a full
op-ed about some topic related to Israel and of interest to your campus
community. The article must be submitted to IEC and your campus supervisor
before you submit it for publication. It is your responsibility to complete,
submit for review, and submit for publication before your school closes for
winter break.
Post weekly about Israel on
social media
Post something related to Israel
on social media every week. This should be a news article, update, something
informative, etc.
Support recruitment for
Birthright and other Israel travel programs
Assist Hillel in recruitment for
Israel travel programs when asked.
Support Hillel Israel
programming however you’re asked
As the Hillel provides Israel
programming or Israel related events, you will be asked to help support that
programming.
YEAR
IN REVIEW
At the end of the year you will be asked to submit a Year in
Review to IEC and your campus supervisor. This document will contain all of the
work you have done above. Though there are not specific counts for how many of
each category you must complete, the document should be thorough. There are two
important deadlines for the year in review. First, you will submit a draft of
your first term work. This will be due half way through the school year. For
all work that is not yet complete, you will include your plan for completion.
At the end of the school year, you will also include a page of recommendations
for the university. After all of your research you will have a great idea of
what the school could do to improve and your Year in Review will include a
detailed recommendations list.
The Year in Review will serve as not only your portfolio for
the year, but it will also be a living document for your Hillel. This is a
resource that will last beyond your time in the position and will be updated
and edited every year to keep your Hillel up to date. The work you do now will
help your Hillel grow and increase the reach and scope of their Israel related
education and campus engagement opportunities. It will also help with both
current and future efforts to address anti-Jewish and anti-Israel challenges.
Half-way through each term you will have a video meeting
with IEC and your supervisor to review your work so far. This meeting is
required and will go over your work in detail. Prior to your meeting IEC and
your campus supervisor will review the work you’ve done to help guide your work
moving forward.
Please see the chart below for due dates for your university
(please note, these are based on your academic calendars) for the first draft
and final draft of the Year in Review:
INTERN
TRAINING
There will be two mandatory intern trainings each
year. They will be held in Chicago (or on Zoom) and IEC will coordinate your travel. The date for the Fall 2022 training will be September 11th, 2022.