Internships aim to keep young pros in Michigan

The availability of internships has been shown to help states keep educated young people from fleeing for other places to live and work.

The importance of Internships definitely is on the rise. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the percent of interns converted to full-time employment rose form 35.6 percent  in 2001 to 50.5 percent in 2008.

Kalamazoo Valley Community College's Lois Brinson-Ropes, the internship coordinator for the Student Employment Services, works with local employers to find the right young people for intern positions, which ideally bring an advantage when seeking full-time work.

KVCC's Community Partners Internship Program has recently arranged for five winter semester placements. They are:

-- David Curtis, a graphic-design major, Paw Paw Wine Distributors.

-- Graphic-design/illustration student, Amy O'Donnell, Wraps & Signs By Trim It.

-- Brittany Bauman, another graphic-design enrollee, The Strutt.

-- Morgan Wellman as an administrative assistant, Abies Chiropractic Clinic.

-- Chelsea Spencer, a business-administration major will do a marketing internship at Global Clinical Connections, which is located at M-TEC of KVCC and sponsored a graphic-design intern during the fall semester.

The placements are funded for a three-year period by the KVCC Foundation. With $100,000, at least 55 students can be placed with enterprises interested in a grow-your-own-workforce alliance.

The bulk of the grant funds is being used to pay up to 50 percent of the wages for each intern. The companies they work for pay the balance. The program runs through December of 2011.

Salary terms are established on a case-by-case basis and agreed upon prior to the start of the internship.  The pay can range from the minimum wage of $7.40 to $12 per hour.

An internship usually lasts 15 weeks, but students can apply at any time and assignments are made year-round.

Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Lois E. Brinson-Ropes, KVCC