Internship requests on the rise at KVCC

Students at Kalamazoo Valley Community College understand that experience can mean the difference in getting a job.

So they're requesting internships even when it's not required by their program.

Lois Brinson-Ropes, internship coordinator for the community college, says the 108 seeking internships for credit last winter was the highest number she has seen in the 14 years she has worked at KVCC. Nearly 50 sought placements during summer semester, including:

• Dale Abbott, a graphic design student with Lam and Associates in downtown Kalamazoo;

• Craig Pennings, another graphic-design student, with Market Grasp Media;

• Robert Muir, a computer-programming major with Brave Industrial Fasteners in Otsego;

• Lee Wentzel, a business-administration student revising a website for Kalamazoo Dog Training Club;

• Melissa Al-Azzawi, a graphic-design student working in the advertising department at Kal-Haven Publishing; and

• Andrew Weiandt, graphic-design major revising a website during his tenure at Crown Investment and Valuation Services.

Brinson-Ropes is also working on placements of a business major with the hospitality division of Greenleaf Trust, a graphic-design student with Alliant Healthcare Products, a machinist with Siemers Inspection Services, and a business major with Valley Oak Financial.

The placements are funded for a three-year period by the KVCC Foundation. The $100,000 project seeks to place at least 55 students over that time with enterprises interested in a grow-your-own-workforce alliance.

Most of the grant money goes to pay up to 50 percent of the wages for each intern, with the companies they work for providing the balance. The program is scheduled to run through December 2011 and salary terms are established on a case-by-case basis.

Companies can request an intern based on the area of study, skills needed, duties expected, hours of work, and when the person is needed on the job. Each will select an intern based on the organization's existing hiring methods and criteria.

Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Lois Brinson-Ropes