Following the success of its five-year Lilly Grant concluding June 30, 2019, Indiana Wesleyan University has announced that it will be extending the Accelerate Indiana Internship Program for an additional two years.
There will be some big changes in the program, and businesses in Grant County look to benefit the most. Previously, participating employers were limited to start-ups that were five years or younger. Going forward, all businesses and non-profits will be eligible to apply to be a part of the program to receive one or more paid interns.
Employers will be evaluated based on their growth outlook, meaningful work and the potential for full-time offers following the internship. According to Nathan Milner, the internship coordinator at IWU-Marion, “The goal of our paid internship program remains the same. We want to help keep graduates in Indiana and we want to be a part of helping to create jobs in Indiana by supporting our businesses.” The difference now is that this program will sharpen its focus to target Grant County industries.
“We have found that our students are very interested in getting involved in the local job market and tend to prefer internships that are local,” said Milner. “This presents a great opportunity for local businesses to take on an intern and provide them with valuable hands-on experience. At the end of the internship, the employer may decide to make a full-time offer to the student. This is one of the major benefits of internships for both employers and interns. It gives both sides the opportunity evaluate fit without a lot of upfront cost or risk.”
After the employer applications have been evaluated and final candidates have been informed, students will be invited to apply for an internship. They will fill out an application and attach a resume and employers will then be able to see the applicants and contact them to set up interviews with the students they are interested in pursuing.
During the fall and spring semesters, students are enrolled in full-time classes so they already have housing. In the past, a challenge has been for students to find affordable housing during the summer to participate in the internship program. An incentive for students to apply to the program is that IWU students will also be able to stay on campus with their summer room fee waived when they receive a summer internship offer.
“This is a really exciting incentive we are able to offer and we hope that staying in Marion for the summer will allow students to feel even more a part of the community here and begin to see themselves launching their careers right here in Grant County,” said Milner.
Over the last five years, 228 internships have been completed through the Accelerate Indiana Internship Program. There were a total of 64 start-ups that hosted an intern for at least one semester. The 2017 job placement rate for interns that participated in the Accelerate Indiana Internship program was 100%.
Over $400,000.00 has been paid to IWU interns in internships with Indiana businesses due to the funding of the Lilly grant, Accelerate Indiana.
For more information about this program please contact Nathan Milner at nathan.milner@indwes.edu. To learn more about Accelerate Indiana Internship Program visit www.iwuacceleratein.com.