Virtual Internships in Montpellier
Virtual Internships in Montpellier is a four-credit internship opportunity. It’s critical to learn to adapt, acclimate, discover new ways to contribute, and be productive working remotely. Virtual internships combined with the internship course give you an opportunity to learn and develop valuable skills.
Program Details
Location
Montpellier,
France
Term
Fall Semester
Spring Semester
Summer Session
Credit Type
Resident Credit
Sponsor
Learning Abroad Center
Program Eligibility
GPA
2.5
Student Type
UofM Students
Non UofM Students
Student Year
Sophomores
Juniors
Seniors
About
The Virtual Internship in Montpellier program is a four-credit internship opportunity. Virtual internships combined with the internship course give you an opportunity to learn and develop valuable skills.
You’ll work on projects from the US for an international organization while adding a global perspective to your professional work experience. You’ll apply your in-class knowledge to real-world meaningful work, gain experience working remotely, expand your skill base, earn four credits from coursework, and maximize your time.
While we’ll try to place you in your preferred location, keep in mind that our top consideration is making an appropriate match to your skills, experience, and internship goals.
For more information, refer to our Frequently Asked Questions.
Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:
- Communicate and navigate effectively in a global, virtual environment
- Gain culture specific knowledge of work placement country
- Understand your own values, skills, and behaviors and how different values and communication styles may impact workplace dynamics; develop strategies for adapting to these differences
- Identify and articulate skills and experiences necessary to reach future career goals; develop learning objectives for the virtual internship site that will help you move toward these career aspirations
- Conduct your work during the internship utilizing best practices around professional behavior within a virtual work environment
- Understand and practice tolerance of different cultural assumptions
- Use a comparative framework in essays and dialogue with fellow students to examine cultural and professional aspects of work and how COVID-19 has impacted these environments
- Research and analyze the placement country’s workplace, particularly in terms of social media and online presence, including language, norms, values, economic assumptions and compare this to virtual environment to the US
Program Structure
Program Level
3000-level course
Courseload
One 4-credit virtual internship course as well as 15–20 hours per week at your internship placement.
The course will be offered in English or French.
Course Schedule
Spring 2022
January 18: Virtual Internship course begins
January 24: Virtual Internship placement begins
April 29: Virtual internship course and placement ends
The class will meet synchronously six times throughout the semester. Our expectation is that you are able to make it to all synchronous sessions, and do not have another course that has conflicting class times. Class times are listed below
- Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8–9 a.m.: January 18 and 20, March 15 and 17, April 27 and 29
Fall 2021
September 7: Virtual Internship course begins
September 13: Virtual Internship placement begins
November 5: Virtual internship placement ends
December 10: Virtual internship course ends
The class will meet synchronously six times throughout the semester. Our expectation is that you are able to make it to all synchronous sessions, and do not have another course that has conflicting class times. For this reason, there are two different options for class times, outlined below. You will choose either the Monday/Wednesday option or the Tuesday/Thursday option. Please note that the French section will be taught during the Monday/Wednesday time.
- Mondays and Wednesdays, 9–10 a.m.: September 8 and 13, October 25 and 27, December 6 and 8
- Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8–9 a.m.: September 7 and 9, October 26 and 28, December 7 and 9
Summer 2021
June 1: Virtual internship course begins
June 7: Virtual internship placement begins
July 30: Virtual internship course and placement ends
The class will meet synchronously 3 times throughout the summer for 2 hours each. Our expectation is that you are able to make it to all synchronous sessions. For this reason, there are two different options for class times, outlined below. You will choose either the Tuesday option or the Wednesday option. Please note that the French Section will be taught on Tuesdays.
- Tuesdays, 8:30–10:30 a.m.: June 1, June 29, July 27
- Wednesdays, 8:30–10:30 a.m.: June 2, June 30, July 28
Coursework
The 4-credit virtual internship course will consist of lectures, small-group discussions, readings, posting to prompts, blogs, essays, a mock interview, and a presentation. Along with the class, you’ll be assigned projects for 15–20 hours per week at your internship placement. The course will help you apply in-class knowledge to your work and understand your newly developed professional skills to articulate in professional situations.
The course will be offered in English and French. The French taught section of the Virtual International Internship course, along with a French internship placement, may be applied to French major or minor degree requirements. Consult with the French Director of Undergraduate Studies for approval.
Virtual Internship Syllabus (PDF)
Internship Placements
Internship placements are available in a variety of fields and industries. Our partner in Montpellier maintains a network of onsite contacts and will work to place you with an internship suited to your skills, experience and goals for the internship. Internships are available in English and French. You will find a list of the industries within our partner’s network and the languages possible.
Montpellier Internship Industries
| Industry | English | French |
|---|---|---|
| Advertising | X | X |
| Business | X | X |
| Communications | X | X |
| Creative Media | X | X |
| Education | X | X |
| Electronics | X | X |
| Environmental / Sustainability | X | X |
| Finance | X | X |
| Graphic Design | X | X |
| International Relations | X | X |
| Marketing | X | X |
| Public Relations | X | X |
| Publishing | X | |
| Social Media | X | X |
| Sports Managment | X | |
| Video Editing and Animation | X | X |
| Web Design | X |
Sample Placements
The following sample placements are examples of the type of work that may be available in this location. These are intended as examples and are not a complete list of internship sites.
Marketing & Communications Assistant
Internship Industries: Advertising, Communications, Marketing, Public relations, Social Media
Description: Work with a local wine producer, brewer or baker to create and/or maintaining social media content, translate websites into English and other similar duties as assigned.
Internship language: French
Language prerequisite: FREN 1004 or equivalent. Internship communication will be conducted in French while work will be produced in English and/or French.
Teaching Assistant
Internship Industries: Communications, Creative Arts/Writing, Creative Media, Education
Description: Work for a private junior high school, assisting teachers with lesson plans, creating slide decks to present aspects of American cultures, and other similar duties as assigned.
Internship language: English
Language prerequisite: None, however prior study of French is beneficial
Business Development Intern
Internship Industries: Business, Finance, Public relations
Description: Work with a local wine producer, brewer or baker to assist in developing partnerships and conduct research to identify export opportunities in the USA.
Internship language: English or French
Language prerequisite: FREN 1004 or equivalent is required for French placements. Internship communication will be conducted in French while work will be produced in English and/or French. Limited placements avaialble with no language prerequisite, but prior French study is beneficial.
Social Media Specialist
Internship Industries: Communications, Creative Media, Environmental/Sustainability, Marketing, Social Media, Web design
Description: Work for small start up focused on sustainable practices. Research best partices on sustainability in Minnesota. Develop a social media campaign and webinar to share these with French citizens. Help develop US/French partnerships. Create and refresh content on their website and social media, and other similar duties as assigned.
Internship language: English or French
Language prerequisite: FREN 1004 or equivalent is required for French placements. Internship communication will be conducted in French while work will be produced in English and/or French. Limited placements avaialble with no language prerequisite, but prior French study is beneficial.
Dates Details
Submit the online application and complete the assigned application checklist according to the appropriate deadline:
| Term | Program Dates | Application Open Date | Application Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Semester | Late January–early May | October 1 | November 15 |
| Summer Session | Early June–late July | February 15 | April 1 |
| Fall Semester | Early September–mid December | April 15 | June 1 |
Fees
UofM Students
Semester
The tuition rate for this 4-credit course is the same as other undergraduate UMTC courses and will be billed to your UofM student account. In addition to tuition, you will also be billed a $600 placement fee. If you are already taking 13 credits during fall or spring semester, you can add the virtual international internship course at no additional tuition costs, but will be billed the additional cost of the $600 placement fee. Visit Onestop for additional information about tuition costs.
Summer
A program fee of $2,050 will be billed to your UofM student account. This amount is equivalent to a 4-credit course on the UMTC campus.
Non-UofM Students
Semester
Virtual International Internships are not available to non-UofM students during fall or spring semester.
Summer
Non-UofM students will be billed a program fee of $2,050. This amount is equivalent to a 4-credit course on the UMTC campus.
Cancellation Policy
The regular Learning Abroad Center cancellation and refund policy does not apply to this course. If you decide to cancel your participation in the course after confirming your participation, the Learning Abroad Center will bill your University of Minnesota student account for non-recoverable costs incurred to secure an internship placement on your behalf. In addition to any tuition refund processed per Onestop policies, if you cancel before the course start date, you will be billed $400. If you cancel after the course start date, you will be billed $600.
Apply
If you would like to apply after the deadline has passed, email [email protected] with your preferred industries and we will determine if a placement is still available.
Complete
After completing the above application, which includes submitting a cover letter and resume, your application will be reviewed.
Next Steps
After the above application is complete, your application is reviewed by our program team. You will be notified of an acceptance decision by email. After the initial application submission, you may need to submit additional application materials with our onsite partners. This could include a letter of recommendation, transcript, and/or a cover letter and resume in the language of your host city/country. You may also be asked to conduct interviews with potential internship placements.
If accepted, you will be assigned a confirmation checklist, which you will complete to confirm your participation in the program. If you decide not to continue with the application process, log into the online application system and submit a Cancel Request.
Notification of placement for internships in Montpellier will be made two to four weeks after the application deadline.
If accepted, you will be assigned a confirmation checklist, which you will complete to confirm your participation in the program. If you decide not to continue with the application process, log into the online application system and submit a Cancel Request.
Register for On-Campus Course
Once you are confirmed in the program, the Learning Abroad Center will register you in the 4-credit Virtual Internship course. No other action is needed from you to register for the course. You will not be able to withdraw from this course on your own, you will need to contact the Learning Abroad Center.
Program Contact
We encourage you to reach out early in the process if you have questions about available placements, so that our advisers can help guide you to the location that works best for your skills, experience, and internship goals.
For further information or questions about this program, send an email to
Peggy Retka
or call at
612.626.7134