Friday, February 28, 2014
I have been hearing from many of our students, faculty, and alumni about our successful internship programs, many of which lead to jobs. We are very supportive of internships in the college and have expanded Jennie Buckwalter's role to Assistant Dean to include helping incentivize and support internships. Internship information for students, programs, and prospective employers can be found on our website, and we are looking forward to hosting our first annual CoLA Internship Celebration Breakfast on Tuesday, April 29 at 8:30 a.m. in the Nutter Center Berry Room. We owe so much to our community and campus partners as they help provide essential hands-on, real-world training and experience for our students. Please save the date!
We have so many internship success stories that I can't list them all here, so I will summarize a few each week so that everyone gets an idea of the great opportunities that our students are capitalizing on.
Our Social Work program requires an internship for the degree and for accreditation through the Council on Social Work Education, so we have many community partners helping our students gain important job skills. Tennille Ali interned at Clark County Children Services and Kristen Sparks interned at Montgomery County Children Services. Both were hired right after graduation and are currently supervisors at Montgomery County Children Services supervising current University Partnership Program (UPP) students. UPP is a dual state and federal grant program that teaches social work undergraduates about child welfare. Jo Ellen Layne, Social Work, oversees this important and productive UPP for us, and Natallie Gentles-Gibbs oversees the internship program. Thank you Jo Ellen and Natallie!
Laura Mays, Communication, has just been promoted to the position of Congressional and Legislative Liaison for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. It all started with a public relations internship at WPAFB three years ago.
Eric Leckey, Political Science, interned at the White House and is now a part of the Homeland Security team as Associate Director of the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA).
Michael Wiehe, MPA, interned with Dayton Mayor Mike Turner and became full-time staff as a Congressional Aide when Turner successfully ran for Congress.
The Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality Symposium, held on Feb. 21, was a big success. Jakobi Williams, Associate Professor at Indiana University, was the guest speaker, and the event was a collaboration with Miami University. Congratulations to the Women's Center and Director Amber Vlasnik, Women's Studies program and Director Hope Jennings, and African and African American Studies program and Director Opolot Okia. I know that many other people helped put on this event, including Cindy Vanzant, Linda Morgan, and Kelly Cooley. Great Job All!
Mark your calendars for the Public History Graduate Symposium on Wright in Your Own Backyard taking place in the Endeavour Room of the Student Union on March 14. George Willeman, Library of Congress Nitrate Film Vault Manager, will be the guest speaker, and students in the successful Public History graduate program will be sharing their research. Thank you to Dawne Dewey, Public History Program Director and Head of Special Collections and Archives at the Dunbar Library, for overseeing the program and for organizing the symposium.
Congratulations to Music on the 15th year of the Tri-State Honor Band that they hosted last weekend. Students and faculty participate in classes and clinics with the addition of a culminating concert. Many of our current students come from this honor band, and it is great exposure to our fantastic music program. Thank you to David Booth and to the woodwind and brass faculty.
Have a relaxing Spring Break everyone!
Kristin Sobolik
Dean
