College Connections Increase Student Opportunities
Janet Boston
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana INTERNnet has served for 15 years as the link between students and employers for internship opportunities. Now, it is expanding its ongoing connections with colleges and universities to enhance the outcomes for all involved.
The ongoing partnerships with higher education now allow for the transfer of internship postings from IIN’s web site to a college/university’s online student job board. This process strengthens the link between employers, students and educational institutions.
Employers throughout the state have expressed their desire for one portal to post internships to multiple Indiana colleges and universities. This new development will reduce the time-consuming task of manually posting internships on different systems. It is beneficial to colleges and universities, as their students will have access to additional internships.
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis was the first educational institution to pilot the partnership with IIN. Matthew Rust, director of career and advising services of the Division of Undergraduate Education, was greatly involved in the process of creating this program.
“We began our partnership with IIN at the beginning of November 2015,” Rust explains. “Since then, we have loaded over 600 unique internship positions into our online job board system. These positions would not have been conveniently available to our students without the IIN partnership, and we know this access within our own system helped improve student awareness of IIN.”
Indiana INTERNnet has also partnered with Ball State University and Ivy Tech Community College. The program shares internships with every Ivy Tech Community College campus throughout the state.
“Although we have our own job board, most of IIN’s internships are from employers not currently working with us,” says Mike Slocum, executive director for Student and Career Development at Ivy Tech Community college. “Our students have access to more internships, and our employers can reach more students through one portal. Everybody wins!”
Students interested in the shared internships are directed to the IIN web site to create a profile and apply. This method allows employers access to the Employment Aid Readiness Network Indiana funding administered through the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and connects them with EARN Indiana-eligible students.
“Internships play a critical role in helping our students refine their career goals and prepare for their future professions,” Rust adds. “We’re thrilled to know our students have more access to these great experiences thanks to being directly plugged into IIN’s statewide network of internship opportunities.”
The partnerships with IUPUI, Ball State University and Ivy Tech Community College have been very successful. IIN continues to explore opportunities with other Indiana educational institutions to expand this program.
To learn more about Indiana INTERNnet or register for our free service, visit www.IndianaINTERN.net.