First-Year Internship Program launched for alumni-employees

The Career Resource Center and the Office of Alumni Relations have joined forces to offer SUNY New Paltz’s inaugural First-Year Internship Program, an opportunity available exclusively to SUNY New Paltz alumni who are working on campus.

The new program builds on the College’s successful upperclass-student internship program, which is open to any alumnus/a looking to host students. The new program allows first-year students to get an earlier start on career preparation.

The new program builds on the College’s successful upperclass-student internship program, which is open to any alumnus/a looking to host students.

The First-Year Internship Program is being administered, fittingly, by two alumni-employees: internship coordinator Beth King ’95 (Psychology) and service learning coordinator Erica Wagner ’08g (Humanistic/Multicultural Education) of the Career Resource Center. The program offers an exclusive opportunity to alumni currently employed at the College to become actively engaged with first-year students by hosting them as interns in their various campus departments and giving them meaningful, professional experience that students can be proud to put on their professional resumes.

“At Freshman Orientation this summer, our new students heard about the First-Year Internship Program. They were extremely interested and buzzed about this opportunity,” said King. “Through this program, departments can offer our newest students a tremendous career advantage by granting them exposure to a professional work environment and meaningful project experience. In exchange, the first-year students can share their time and enthusiasm.

The mutually beneficial program provides alumni employees with no-cost assistance with projects, as well as the opportunity to help new students connect with the college community and providing valuable mentorship to make a difference in students’ lives. Students get the benefit of gaining valuable work experience without having to leave campus, building relationships at SUNY New Paltz, and learning about themselves and their career aspirations.

For alumni-employees, involvement in the First-Year Internship Program entails interviewing potential candidates (who are pre-screened and selected by the Career Resource Center) and then selecting the intern in November; providing a project or role and workspace for the student for five hours a week for six-to-eight weeks during the Spring 2015 semester; meeting at least weekly with the intern to provide guidance and feedback on project progress; and completing an end-of-semester program/project evaluation.

If you’re an alumni-employee who’d like the chance to participate in this program, visit the First-Year Internship Program Request Form, which must be submitted by Friday, Sept. 26. Here, you can specify the anticipated learning outcomes for your First-Year Intern; describe the project on which you plan to have your intern work; and specify whether you are looking for students of any particular major or study area (King and Wagner noted, however, to keep in mind that many first-year students have not yet declared majors).

While this campus-based program is for alumni-employees, all alumni are encouraged to participate in the SUNY New Paltz internship program by hosting an intern at their business or organization. Please visit the Careers section of the Alumni Relations website for more details.