Rubric for Assessment, by Student Interns, of NEWPATH Internships

Background: Internships are a key component of the NEWPATH program. Each student in the program is expected to engage in an internship program that lasts a minimum of six months (half-time), typically split into two three-month long internships during the summers at the end of the sophomore and junior years of the student's undergraduate program. These internships are typically with IT startups associated with TechColumbus and are intended to develop and hone the entrepreneurial skills of NEWPATH students. For full details, please see the main internships page.

Rubric: The rubric below is used by student interns for self-evaluation of how well they performed in their internships along a number of dimensions, as well as the importance, in their opinion, of each dimension to a budding IT entrepreneur. For convenience, the dimensions are arranged into three groups, these being, respectively, technical knowledge and skills, professional skills, and entrepreneurial skills. In the table below, each dimension is listed in a separate row; and for each dimension, four possible levels of achievement, rated "marginal" through "distinguished", are described. The last two columns are to be filled in by the student intern; these two columns represent respectively the actual level of achievement of the student being evaluated with respect to the particular dimension and the importance of that dimension for a future IT entrepreneur. Please send comments on, or suggestions for improvement in, the rubric to neelam AT cse.ohio-state.edu

Details: Each NEWPATH student pursuing an internship is required to complete this evaluation immediately following completion of the internship. If you are a NEWPATH student currently engaged in an internship or planning to be involved in one in the near future, please read the descriptions in the table below of the four possible levels of achievement for each item; and immediately following the completion of the internship, please complete this evaluation by choosing, from the drop down menus in the last two columns, the appropriate values representing the your level of performance along that dimension and the importance, in your opinion, of that item for success as an IT entrepreneur. Following the table are a few free-form questions that ask for your opinions on the items included in this evaluation and a few that seek your ideas concerning the NEWPATH internship program. Once you have answered all the questions, including your name, your supervisor's name, and company name (below), please click the "Submit Responses" button at the end of the form. If you have any questions about this form or encounter difficulties with it, please email neelam AT cse.ohio-state.edu or ramnath AT cse.ohio-state.edu

The internship program, as noted above, is a key part of NEWPATH; and your evaluation will provide valuable feedback on ways to improve the program over time. Please be assured that your evaluation will be treated as completely confidential and will be available only to the faculty members and advisors involved with the program. Note, in particular, that the information you provide will not be available to your internship supervisor nor to anyone else in the supervisor's organization; the information will be of great value to the NEWPATH faculty since it will help them identify particular organizations that provide the best internship opportunities for NEWPATH students. Thank you for taking the time and effort to complete this evaluation.

Name of intern:

Name of supervisor:

Company:

   Level:
  Marginal Level:
  Satisfactory Level:
  Proficient Level:
  Distinguished My level of
Performance Degree of
Importance

Technical Knowledge and Skills:

Understanding of essential computing principles and ability to apply them in practice Basic understanding of some main principles of computing; often don't see their relation to practice; Reasonable understanding of most key computing principles and, with some guidance, can often see applicability to practical problems and situations; Good understanding of all important computing principles; almost always able to see their applicability to practical problems and situations; Thorough understanding of important computing principles; able to carefully analyze the extent of their applicability to practical problems; often able to come up with novel ways to tweak given situations to enable applicability of standard computing techniques.

Knowledge of, and facility with, standard programming systems and tools Minimal familiarity with a few languages and tools; need much more exposure to a range of modern systems and tools; Reasonable familiarity with a number of common tools and languages; need guidance in choosing the best tools for specific situations; Good familiarity and experience with a range of tools and languages; usually able to choose the most appropriate tools for specific applications; Wide experience with, and deep understanding of, a wide range of tools and languages; not only able to choose the most appropriate tool for specific situations but also able to combine various tools in novel ways to address unusual needs.

Knowledge of key business principles and practices Minimal knowledge of business practices; no intuition for what is important from a business point of view vs. what is not; Some knowledge of business processes and practices; often need guidance in understanding what is important and what is not; Good understanding of business processes and practices; usually able to focus on key problems and identify solutions appropriate to the business's needs; Keen, intuitive grasp of business problems and how to address them; not only able to find solutions to problems faced by the business but often able to identify new business opportunities.



Professional Skills:

Teamworking skills Am a loner with poor team skills; often miss team meetings and, when present, have difficulty listening to alternative viewpoints; Some team skills; when others make an effort to work with me, able to work reasonably well with them; Good team skills; make a definite effort to understand others' ideas; work well with other team members to find solutions to common problems. Born team-player and team-leader; I not only help team develop solutions to a range of problems, but also get buy-in from all members of the team and help team members develop a sense of team loyalty.

Communication skills Poor oral and written skills; poor organization of presentations with unclear main points and conclusions; does not seem aware of audience reactions; poor contribution during team presentations, discussions; Somewhat developed oral and written skills; presentations reasonably organized but not always effective; written documents are adequate but reader has to struggle to keep reading; positive contributions during team presentations, discussions; Good oral and written skills; well organized presentations and written documents; very good contributions to team presentations, discussions; Superb presentations and written documents; creative slides and compelling writing style; keeps the audience/reader engaged throughout; helps team members during their presentations and greatly contributes to effectiveness of team discussions.

Networking skills Poor networking skills; I have a hard time in informal settings; find it difficult to talk about my projects or getting others to talk about their interests; Moderate networking skills; am usually quiet in informal settings but if the other side draws me out, am able to talk convincingly about my projects; Good networking skills; am able to talk comfortably to technical and non-technical people and explain my ideas; I show interests in others ideas and points of view; Superb networking skills; am able to talk enthusiastically to nearly everyone from CEOs to engineers and salespeople and get them interested in my projects; am able to move conversation in the direction I wants to take it.

Knowledge of ethical issues Little or no understanding of ethical or professional issues even where there are serious questions involved; Some understanding of professional and ethical issues raised directly by particular business decisions; when the connection is not immediate or direct, I need help in seeing the issues; Good understanding of all important professional and ethical issues related to various business practices and decisions. Deep understanding of professional issues involved and the ethical implications of particular business decisions; I pay careful consideration to implications to society as a whole of business decisions and practices.

Lifelong learning (LLL) skills Poor LLL skills; when researching a problem or technology, I tend to collect only minimal information; analysis of the information tends to just restate it; Some LLL skills; when researching, I tend to be focused on the given problem, ignoring potentially important related issues; some, mostly shallow, analysis of collected information; Reasonable LLL skills; competent at gathering all relevant information and analyzing it; Excellent LLL skills; excellent research skills, often finding relevant information in unusual places; detailed analysis of information with well supported conclusions.



Entrepreneurial Skills:

Ability to innovate Very limited; I usually think in terms of small and incremental changes both in functionality and marketability; Some ability to innovate; occasionally think outside the box, but often need a bit of a push in the right direction; Good ability to innovate; often come up with novel ways to solve problems or to use existing tools and systems for unusual purposes; Bubbling with novel new ideas and ways of applying existing ideas and products; often they don't pan out but don't let that discourage me.

Ability to see opportunities and understand market forces Not a market-oriented person; I focus on technology issues, not worry about what will sell; Some theoretical understanding of market forces; often need help in applying the theory to real markets; Good understanding of market forces; good appreciation of essential factors that will determine success or failure of a new product; I see opportunities where others see only problems; I have what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur!

Ability to sell ideas to VCs and others Poor sales skills; I often don't see how to present ideas in a manner tailored to the listener; as a result, even my really good ideas tend to get overlooked; Some ability to present ideas, especially to sympathetic audiences and with advance preparation; Good ability to present a strong business case; am usually able to think quickly and address any concerns or questions that VCs and others bring up; Am a born salesman! I love persuading people and can make the most skeptical people seriously consider investing in my vision.

If there is any particular item of knowledge or skill in the table above in which you feel your ability is especially lacking, particularly when compared to its importance for successful IT entrepreneurship, please identify it and briefly describe the actions that the NEWPATH program could take to address this weakness:

(comments on any specific area that you felt particularly ill-equipped.)

If there is any particular items of knowledge or skill that is missing in the table above that, in your opinion, is essential for successful IT entrepreneurship, please identify it:

(suggestions concerning additional key items of knowledge/skill)

Please make sure you have provided entries in the last two columns for each dimension in the rubric, and provided the intern's name and your name and contact information before you:

	Level: Marginal	Level: Satisfactory	Level: Proficient	Level: Distinguished	My level of Performance	Degree of Importance
Technical Knowledge and Skills:
Understanding of essential computing principles and ability to apply them in practice	Basic understanding of some main principles of computing; often don't see their relation to practice;	Reasonable understanding of most key computing principles and, with some guidance, can often see applicability to practical problems and situations;	Good understanding of all important computing principles; almost always able to see their applicability to practical problems and situations;	Thorough understanding of important computing principles; able to carefully analyze the extent of their applicability to practical problems; often able to come up with novel ways to tweak given situations to enable applicability of standard computing techniques.
Knowledge of, and facility with, standard programming systems and tools	Minimal familiarity with a few languages and tools; need much more exposure to a range of modern systems and tools;	Reasonable familiarity with a number of common tools and languages; need guidance in choosing the best tools for specific situations;	Good familiarity and experience with a range of tools and languages; usually able to choose the most appropriate tools for specific applications;	Wide experience with, and deep understanding of, a wide range of tools and languages; not only able to choose the most appropriate tool for specific situations but also able to combine various tools in novel ways to address unusual needs.
Knowledge of key business principles and practices	Minimal knowledge of business practices; no intuition for what is important from a business point of view vs. what is not;	Some knowledge of business processes and practices; often need guidance in understanding what is important and what is not;	Good understanding of business processes and practices; usually able to focus on key problems and identify solutions appropriate to the business's needs;	Keen, intuitive grasp of business problems and how to address them; not only able to find solutions to problems faced by the business but often able to identify new business opportunities.

Professional Skills:
Teamworking skills	Am a loner with poor team skills; often miss team meetings and, when present, have difficulty listening to alternative viewpoints;	Some team skills; when others make an effort to work with me, able to work reasonably well with them;	Good team skills; make a definite effort to understand others' ideas; work well with other team members to find solutions to common problems.	Born team-player and team-leader; I not only help team develop solutions to a range of problems, but also get buy-in from all members of the team and help team members develop a sense of team loyalty.
Communication skills	Poor oral and written skills; poor organization of presentations with unclear main points and conclusions; does not seem aware of audience reactions; poor contribution during team presentations, discussions;	Somewhat developed oral and written skills; presentations reasonably organized but not always effective; written documents are adequate but reader has to struggle to keep reading; positive contributions during team presentations, discussions;	Good oral and written skills; well organized presentations and written documents; very good contributions to team presentations, discussions;	Superb presentations and written documents; creative slides and compelling writing style; keeps the audience/reader engaged throughout; helps team members during their presentations and greatly contributes to effectiveness of team discussions.
Networking skills	Poor networking skills; I have a hard time in informal settings; find it difficult to talk about my projects or getting others to talk about their interests;	Moderate networking skills; am usually quiet in informal settings but if the other side draws me out, am able to talk convincingly about my projects;	Good networking skills; am able to talk comfortably to technical and non-technical people and explain my ideas; I show interests in others ideas and points of view;	Superb networking skills; am able to talk enthusiastically to nearly everyone from CEOs to engineers and salespeople and get them interested in my projects; am able to move conversation in the direction I wants to take it.
Knowledge of ethical issues	Little or no understanding of ethical or professional issues even where there are serious questions involved;	Some understanding of professional and ethical issues raised directly by particular business decisions; when the connection is not immediate or direct, I need help in seeing the issues;	Good understanding of all important professional and ethical issues related to various business practices and decisions.	Deep understanding of professional issues involved and the ethical implications of particular business decisions; I pay careful consideration to implications to society as a whole of business decisions and practices.
Lifelong learning (LLL) skills	Poor LLL skills; when researching a problem or technology, I tend to collect only minimal information; analysis of the information tends to just restate it;	Some LLL skills; when researching, I tend to be focused on the given problem, ignoring potentially important related issues; some, mostly shallow, analysis of collected information;	Reasonable LLL skills; competent at gathering all relevant information and analyzing it;	Excellent LLL skills; excellent research skills, often finding relevant information in unusual places; detailed analysis of information with well supported conclusions.

Entrepreneurial Skills:
Ability to innovate	Very limited; I usually think in terms of small and incremental changes both in functionality and marketability;	Some ability to innovate; occasionally think outside the box, but often need a bit of a push in the right direction;	Good ability to innovate; often come up with novel ways to solve problems or to use existing tools and systems for unusual purposes;	Bubbling with novel new ideas and ways of applying existing ideas and products; often they don't pan out but don't let that discourage me.
Ability to see opportunities and understand market forces	Not a market-oriented person; I focus on technology issues, not worry about what will sell;	Some theoretical understanding of market forces; often need help in applying the theory to real markets;	Good understanding of market forces; good appreciation of essential factors that will determine success or failure of a new product;	I see opportunities where others see only problems; I have what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur!
Ability to sell ideas to VCs and others	Poor sales skills; I often don't see how to present ideas in a manner tailored to the listener; as a result, even my really good ideas tend to get overlooked;	Some ability to present ideas, especially to sympathetic audiences and with advance preparation;	Good ability to present a strong business case; am usually able to think quickly and address any concerns or questions that VCs and others bring up;	Am a born salesman! I love persuading people and can make the most skeptical people seriously consider investing in my vision.


If there is any particular item of knowledge or skill in the table above in which you feel your ability is especially lacking, particularly when compared to its importance for successful IT entrepreneurship, please identify it and briefly describe the actions that the NEWPATH program could take to address this weakness:
	(comments on any specific area that you felt particularly ill-equipped.)


If there is any particular items of knowledge or skill that is missing* in the table above that, in your opinion, is essential for successful IT entrepreneurship, please identify it*:
	(suggestions concerning additional key items of knowledge/skill)