Supervising an Intern

We expect SCA interns to perform their duties to the same standard as regular seasonal personnel.  You may require SCA interns to work on weekends and holidays, but you should arrange compensatory time off.  Interns are expected to work the equivalent of a 40-hour week. The hours recorded on a time sheet should be either hours spent in active training/education or actual direct service hours. As the site you are welcome to coordinate time off for members, when appropriate, but hours on time sheets should reflect actual hours served.

Sick time or Vacation time
Sick time should be handled the same as regular or seasonal personnel. 
If an intern has a long term illness that is affecting his/her ability to work, contact your Partner Services Coordinator to discuss options. Vacation time should be arranged and agreed upon between you and the intern. For example, a position that is 52 weeks, 10 days off is recognized as the standard time off for a year of service.

Learning and Education
We encourage you to offer the same variety of tasks, responsibilities and learning opportunities available to other personnel.  Similarly, interns should receive periodic supervision, guidance and evaluation from their supervisors.  We expect the SCA experience to be an educational one that leads to a better understanding of how your agency manages land/resources and serves the public, as well as one that provides the intern with new skills.

Activities
Interns may engage in any activity that an employee may carry out except:

• SCA interns may not carry out direct law enforcement functions.
• SCA interns may not engage in firefighting activities unless they are hired to do so.  They may be given fire training as interns.  See Wildfire Duty Policy.

Should you decide to temporarily hire an intern for the purpose of firefighting or other duties, you must inform SCA of the dates of employment so that the position is updated accordingly. For insurance and other purposes such as risk management, it is imperative that our office knows the status and location of each intern. Please contact your Partner Services Coordinator with any changes affecting the internship.
SCA interns may assist in other types of activities such as search and rescue, operating four-wheel drive vehicles, use of machinery and tools, etc. provided they have received the training normally given to regular seasonal personnel.  Interns should also be issued protective clothing and gear for any activity that requires the use of such items for paid employees.
SCA interns who will interact with the public should be given information about your site and the surrounding area.  If it is not possible to include them in your regular seasonal training, please schedule them for tours, field days or other means of acquiring this information.
Once an intern has been placed in a position, an SCA Advisor is assigned to assist with enrollment paperwork, travel requests and questions in general. The intern can login to MySCA and view his/her advisor contact information or call the Advisor Hotline at 603-543-1700 x 1498.

Intern Evaluation
Partner supervisors are asked to complete an end-of-term evaluation for all interns. Supervisors of interns enrolled in positions 24 weeks or longer will also be asked to complete a mid-term evaluation of the intern. The evaluations are in electronic format via an online survey. They will be emailed to you at the appropriate times. You can also access the mid-term and end-of-term evaluation for members at any time at this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2D7BKQ2.