Board hopes to expand internship options

Eric Podolsky ’06 immersed in his internship at Off Beat magazine.

Each year hundreds of students take advantage of the internship program run by the College’s Office of Career Enhancing Life Skills (CELS) and now the Alumni Association Board of Directors is calling on alumni and parents to step in and help expand the program’s offerings.

“We can be helpful to students as they pursue their dreams,” said Lynda Batter Munro ’76 P’08, vice president of the board. “We are a source that should be cultivated, and we are creating a mechanism for alumni and parents to be involved.”

A subcommittee of the board is partnering with CELS to increase opportunities for students. Alumni and parents are invited to create internships in any field; positions can be paid or unpaid.

CELS routinely asks students about their career interests and compiles a “wish list” of internships they are looking to pursue. When alumni send an internship offer, CELS looks for a student whose goals match the request. Funded internships are provided for students who participate in the College’s career development program, or are accepted to one the College’s four academic centers. They are eligible for a $3,000 stipend they can use to complete an unpaid internship.

Last summer, 65 percent of the junior class utilized the stipend.

For students, an internship is valuable for building confidence and skills, networking and testing out a career field, noted Deborah Dreher ’89, associate dean and director of CELS.

“Sometimes the best outcome for a student is to find out that their expectations and assumptions about a career path have been wrong,” she said. Dreher added that there are many benefits of providing a student internship for alumni and parents, too.

“Not only do the students get experience and mentors, the mentors have the satisfaction of serving their alma mater, their organization and their profession,” she said.

If you are interested in setting up an internship opportunity, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@conncoll.edu or 860-439-2306.