New initiative seeks to increase supply of campus-affiliated internships

The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the valuable learning experiences afforded to many students through internship programs. As a result, students may have fewer opportunities to explore career interests and develop professional skills. The Provost’s Office is working on a new initiative to combat this pandemic-related drop in internship supply by developing more campus-based internship placements for Purdue students.

All Purdue employees are invited to participate in a short survey about their office’s current involvement and future interest in hosting interns. Survey respondents will have the opportunity to request additional information and resources to increase their success in attracting and supervising college student interns. Information gleaned from this project will be used to inform and improve existing internships across Purdue’s campus as well as increase the number of available internship opportunities.

West Lafayette faculty and staff may start the questionnaire by clicking here. The survey will close on Feb. 15 and should take no longer than five minutes to complete.

For more information, contact Jennifer Dobbs-Oates, provost’s fellow for experiential education and clinical associate professor of human development and family studies, at jendo@purdue.edu. This is a West Lafayette-focused initiative, but persons at Purdue Fort Wayne, Purdue Northwest or Purdue Global who are interested in participating are welcome to complete the survey or to contact Dobbs-Oates directly.

Writer: Bella Vina, ivina@purdue.edu