Internships have never been easier to find thanks to the Pioneer Center’s program
April 29th, 2015
by Jabari Hendricks
The TWU Pioneer Center for Student Excellence, located on the second floor of the Blagg-Huey Library, provides programs and services that enhance students’ academic experience, catering to the Denton, Dallas and Houston campuses. One such program focuses on helping students who are in search of an internship. TWU Connect is an online digital bulletin board, similar to popular sites such as Monster, that eases the process of finding an internship.
Coordinator of Experential Learning Kurt Krause stated: “Internships provide students the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills learned in their classrooms, in the real world.” Krause explained when the Pioneer Center was built, one way it was to live up to its mission statement was to serve as one central location that branched out to all TWU students regardless of classification or location and aided in the process of finding an internship. Prior to its creation, program directors were the sole on-campus resource for finding an internship.
Krause explained that as a part of his role, he pairs with program directors who give consent for TWU Connect to be an additional resource for their students to research and apply for an internship. He also explained that not all program directors work with the Pioneer Center and will handle their students’ internships themselves. Although not all programs at TWU require students to intern as an exit course prior to graduation, it is highly recommended that all TWU students utilize this resource.
TWU Connect is located on the home page of the TWU Pioneer Center for Student Excellence. On the left hand menu panel, the fifth tab, students would see the word “Internships.” The link leads to the TWU Connect home page. From there a student will find a direct link to TWU Connect, a tutorial video that provides step by step instructions on navigating the website, a link or employers to begin the process of working beside the Pioneer Center and posting available internships, contact information to Krause, and additional resources such as digital bulletin boards, frequently asked questions, advice on resumes, cover letters, thank you letters, interview tips, and additional articles that are worth reading.
To access TWU Connect, students must use their login username and password, similar to what they use to access TWU Blackboard. Once they successfully login, the main page will display the student’s personal information, student identification and demographics. From there, they can edit additional information, such as skills they want to present. Once they complete their profile, at the top of the navigation panel there will be a drop down list labeled “Internships, Volunteer, and Job Shadowing.”
Using this search box, students can perform a basic search using keywords and the position type as a filter. To limit the amount of search results, students can perform an advanced search requesting an internship to fit certain criteria such as location, major and even if the position is a paid or unpaid internship. If a student finds an internship to apply to but cannot fill out the information in time, then they can simply add it to their “Favorites” folder to avoid starting over.
If a student’s program does not require an internship as an exit course, they can simply apply for an internship to count towards college credit, with a maximum limit of six credit hours.
For more information, visit the Pioneer Center or contact Krause at 940-898-4105 or kkrause5@twu.edu.
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