|
UNC in D.C. provides valuable experience |
|
|
|
Tuesday, 25 September 2007 |
by Erica Durham
News Reporter
Great opportunities do not come around everyday. For those students participating in the UNC in Washington program, opportunities come in the form of internships in Washington, D.C.-based organizations.
“I wanted to get some experience doing some type of policy work. It’s a great city and I wanted to understand how policy works outside of a textbook,” senior social work major Matthew R. Ballard said
The UNC in Washington program is a semester long experience in Washington, D.C.
“It
counts as full academic credit hours and is kind of like studying
abroad but on site in Washington with a six credit hour internship,”
campus coordinator for UNC in Washington Sharon Jensen said.
“Students have class on Monday, and Tuesday through Friday they have their internships.”
The program is open to all University of North Carolina schools.
Each school in the program intends to send three students each
semester, according to the UNC in Washington Web site. The program is
open to juniors and seniors of all majors.
There is an independent study section, a six-hour internship and a
Washington Experience seminar. The program runs for fall, spring and
summer semesters.
“Schools are typically asked to send three students, but our students
have been doing so well we had five students go [over the summer]. Some
students have even been getting job offers. All of the internships are
at prestigious places such as the Department of Defense,” Jensen said.
“I guess I thought I was going to be disenchanted by Washington but I
came out respecting it more than I thought. It helped to develop good
professional skills like networking and communication skills,” Ballard
said.
The students participating are housed in The Congressional, an apartment building on Constitution Avenue.
“It was definitely a social support in case stress gets to you,” Ballard said.
Students pay their normal tuition and fees for Appalachian State University for the semester.
Other fees include health insurance, housing, food, local
transportation, books and supplies, and then other personal items.
Financial aid is available for this program.
“The variable is how much students use for personal upkeep. I had one
student tell me that the program is so outstanding it is worth its cost
to go,” Jensen said.
The deadlines for spring 2008 applications are Sept. 28, Feb. 4 for the
summer 2008 session, and March 3 for the 2008 fall session.
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Show/Hide comments
