DESCRIPTION

The Faculty Diversity Internship Program at Peralta Community College District 
began in 1994 with fifteen interns. Since then, the program has averaged ten to 
twelve interns each semester, and in the past few semesters has placed more 
than twenty interns at a time in academic and vocational programs in the district’s 
four colleges. The goal of the internship program is to give prospective faculty 
hands-on experience teaching in a community college, the support and guidance 
of a faculty mentor, and ongoing training on best teaching practices.  

For internships in academic subjects, participants must be halfway through a 
master’s or doctoral program. Interns for vocational areas need six years of work 
experience and must be at least halfway through an A.A. degree, or they need 
four years of experience and must have completed at least half of a B.A. 
Applicants with the appropriate degrees but no community college teaching 
experience also qualify for the program. Interns may participate in the program for 
up to four semesters. Applications are accepted throughout the year and are 
retained if an applicant cannot be placed immediately. Interns come from the 
California Institute of Integral Studies, CSU Hayward, Golden Gate College, Holy 
Names College, JFK University, Mills College, New College of California, Phoenix 
University, San Francisco State University, St. Mary’s College, UC Berkeley, and 
the University of San Francisco.  

The coordinator recruits prospective mentors by making presentations on four 
campuses to faculty groups (including at the annual retreat for faculty in vocational 
programs) and to managers. Mentors, who are full-time faculty, do not receive 
release time but assume an extra service class assignment. The intern and 
mentor develop a course syllabus and a written learning plan. They co-sign a 
contract detailing responsibilities, and the mentor provides a written performance 
evaluation to the intern at the end of the semester.

First-term interns teach one class, and returning interns may teach up to 8.8 FTE. 
Following an orientation at the beginning of the semester, the interns attend a bi-
weekly professional development seminar. These seminars focus on 
understanding special populations in a multi-cultural community, designing lesson 
plans for diverse learning styles, creating portfolios for assessments and 
reflection, using video to understand good teaching practice, developing strategies 
for reading and writing across the curriculum, motivating at-risk students, and 
preparing for a job search.

RESOURCES FOR DOWNLOAD

• >> We could do that! A Users' Guide to Diversity Practices in California Community Colleges  (PDF, 542.55 KB)
• >> Diversity Project Powerpoint Presentation  (Powerpoint, 892.50 KB)
• >> Diversity Project Powerpoint Script  (PDF, 70.54 KB)

EVIDENCE OF IMPACT/SUCCESS

The Faculty Diversity Internship Program has been successful in a number of 
ways. Most interns become part-time faculty immediately. The internship program 
helps new faculty succeed in meeting the needs of students in a multi-cultural 
community. In addition to working with a faculty mentor, each intern attends bi-
weekly seminars to discuss challenges, learn a variety of teaching strategies, and 
work individually with a consultant to design, implement, and evaluate lesson 
plans that incorporate the strategies introduced in the seminars. Several interns 
have become full-time tenure-track faculty, although not always with the Peralta 
District. One intern recognized that teaching in a community college was not the 
right career choice.