In theory, summer internships provide students with invaluable experience in their fields of study. In reality, many of these internships are unpaid, putting them out of reach for some students.
To make this opportunity accessible to more students, Kenyon created the Summer Internship Stipend Fund, which is designed to provide students with financial need a means to accept these internships.
“We have students who spend their summers earning money so they can’t accept an unpaid internship,” said Mariam El-Shamaa, director of equal opportunity. “It really handicaps them when it comes to applying for a job.”
The model for the pilot program, she said, is to pay a flat amount that would, in most cases, cover all living and travel expenses for those students accepted for the stipend. El-Shamaa does not know at this time how many students the fund will be able to cover.
To be considered, students must complete and submit the application no later than March 14. As a condition of receiving the funding, students must complete the EXP 205 course, or alternately, write a reflection paper about their internship.
Successful applicants will be notified by April 15. Questions about the fund can be directed to Scott Layson, director of the Career Development Office.