Ohio Wesleyan Earns 2014-2015 Career Ready Internship Grant
Ohio Wesleyan’s Career Ready Internship Grant will create 25 new $10-an-hour summer internships for OWU students, says Career Services Director Leslie J. Melton. (Photo by Doug Martin)
DELAWARE, Ohio – Ohio Wesleyan University has been awarded a 2014–2015 Career Ready Internship Grant of $133,333 from the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation. The funds will be used to create 25 paid internships for university students with financial need.
“Your application showed a good understanding of our grant’s goal and presented a solid plan for achieving it – and we’re eager to get started!” Amy Kerwin, Great Lakes’ vice president-community investments, said in the award notification letter.
Leslie J. Melton, Ohio Wesleyan’s director of career services, said the new grant will support 10-week internships of up to 40 hours per week in summer 2015. The internships will pay $10 an hour and will be available at organizations across Ohio and throughout the United States. Participating students also will be eligible for up to $500 in transportation costs, depending on the location of their internships.
“We’re excited and appreciative for this grant and the potential it creates for our students,” said Melton, lead author on the grant application. “We are also excited about the collaborative nature of this project, which brings together faculty and staff in departments across campus to help our students apply their liberal arts education in a variety of industry settings.”
Development of the Career Ready proposal involved the offices of Career Services, Multicultural Student Affairs, Financial Aid, Accounting, Student Affairs, Off-Campus Student Services, Alumni Relations, and Human Resources, as well as faculty from several departments and OWU alumni, all of whom will assist with its implementation, Melton said.
Of the 25 Career Ready internships, 21 are projected to be new, with four representing a conversion from unpaid to paid opportunities.
In addition to the opportunity to translate classroom learning into hands-on job experience, the Career Ready Internship program will include “professional development” preparedness workshops that will focus on such topics as understanding workplace culture, handling difficult situations, and professional etiquette, Melton said.
In exchange for their involvement with the Career Ready Internship program, she said, employers will be rewarded with dedicated, hard-working Ohio Wesleyan student-interns who possess “strong analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills from a variety of majors and disciplines.”
Learn more about Ohio Wesleyan’s Office of Career Services, OWU’s Career Ready Internship program, and additional information at https://www.owu.edu/about/offices-services/office-of-career-services/.
About Great Lakes:
Knowing that education has the power to change lives for the better, Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation & Affiliates helps millions of students pay for college and repay their student loans. Through Community Investments, Great Lakes leads initiatives and funds programs that help students from traditionally underserved backgrounds start and complete a two- or four-year degree or other credential. For additional information, visit community.mygreatlakes.org.
About Ohio Wesleyan:
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private, coed university offers more than 90 undergraduate majors, minors, and concentrations, and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Ohio Wesleyan combines a challenging, internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities to connect classroom theory with real-world practice. OWU’s 1,850 students represent 42 states and 37 countries. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.