Columbia College is pleased to announce the Alumni and Parent Internship Fund for 2009. The Alumni and Parent Internship Fund is specifically designed to encourage Columbia College students to accept a quality internship which would foster their career exploration and build upon their academic studies, while alleviating some of the financial burden associated with unpaid internships. The Alumni and Parent Internship Fund has limited availability, and the application process is highly selective. From 2005-2008, 15-22 awards were granted each year. The fund is paid out to recipients through installments over the course of an internship.This funding will be available for students who have secured unpaid internships for Summer 2009. Award amounts will range from $1,000 to $3,000. The fund has been made possible thanks to the generosity of Columbia College alumni/ae who desire to foster students participation in internships. They include:

• Class of 1954 Internship Stipend Fund - to provide support for one or more rising juniors or seniors with unpaid internships; preference for an internship in government or not-for-profit industries.
• Herman Family Foundation Internship - to provide support for a College junior (rising senior) for use in the summer following the academic year to hold an unpaid summer internship in the public sector. Preference will be given to an applicant who receives financial aid that requires summer savings from a job as part of his or her financial aid package with a preference given to a student who plans to pursue an internship overseas that is not affiliated with any religious organization.
• Linder (Harold F.) Summer Internship Fund - to assist College students in obtaining unpaid positions with companies where College alumni are employed. Students are not responsible for determining if alumni are present at internship sites - this responsibility will fall to the College.
• The Roger Lehecka Internship Fund - to be used for an undergraduate holding an unpaid internship; preference for juniors (rising seniors) who receive financial aid that require summer savings from a job as part of a financial aid package; preference for those with greatest financial need with a summer opportunity that will make the greatest difference to their life plans, and with demonstrated ability to use the opportunities wisely.
• Clark Tandon Family Fund - to support summer internships with a preference for students who have an interest in creative writing.
• Other Alumni and Parent Support - to assist College students holding unpaid summer internships.

Internships are important opportunities for students to gain experience and training related to their career and academic interests. A successful internship should contain a learning component and a greater understanding of the organization and the industry within which the internship takes place. Career Counselors at the Center for Career Education recommend students participate in internships to help explore and clarify their career decisions.

Information Sessions

Information about the Alumni and Parent Internship Fund will be presented during the Spring 2010 semester. Please check the Events Calendar for the most updated information.

All information sessions are held in the Center for Career Education Conference Room. In addition to providing information on how to create a successful fund application, these sessions will cover additional resources for seeking summer internship funding and general strategies for financing an unpaid or low-paying internship.

Requirements

Columbia College students who meet the following criteria are eligible to apply:

• A rising junior or senior in good academic standing with at least a 3.0 G.P.A.
• A recipient of Columbia grant-based financial aid.
• Secured an unpaid internship

Columbia College students selected as a Alumni and Parent Internship Fund grant recipient must commit to attending the following:

• A Professional Development Workshop & Dinner (early May 2009)
  This "Internship Success" workshop will help students learn important skills and tips to succeed in their internships including how to initiate internship projects and responsibilities, working on a team, learning how to manage your supervisor and how to network within an internship.
• One-to-one advising appointment for students interning abroad (May 2009)
  Alumni and Parent Internship Fund recipients who will be interning abroad will receive one-to-one advising to prepare them for their opportunity abroad, including learning how to effectively navigate cross-cultural customs and communication, how to handle health or medical needs abroad, etc.
• Formal reflection (end of Summer 2009)
  Students will write a thank you letter/reflective essay to the Alumni and Parent Internship Fund donors and an internship evaluation at the end of their internship.

If you are unable to fully commit to all these events, please describe why you cannot commit to an event on your application in the essay section on "Commitment." You will still be considered for the program.

How to Apply

The application period for the Alumni and Parent Internship Fund is now closed.  The application will be available in February 2010. 

If you have any further questions not addressed here, please email Katherine Jo at kkj2102@columbia.edu.

Sample of Past Recipient Internship Organizations

Organization	Location		Organization	Location
100 Projects for Peace: Global Life Focus	Haiti		Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs	New York
African Medical and Research Foundation	Uganda		Mind-Buildiers Creative Arts Center	Mongolia
Alliance of Volunteers for Service, Action and Reform	India		Mongolia International Capital Corporation	New York
Bangladesh Cancer Foundation	Bangladesh		New York Psychiatric Institute	New York
Bible Lands Museum	Israel		Priority Films	New York
Boston Childrens Hospital	Boston		Self-employed Women's Association	India
Burma Lawyers' Council	Thailand		Sustainable South Bronx	New York
Cetacean Conseration and Research Program, Wildlife Conservation Society	New York		Taiwanese American Citizens League	Los Angeles
Columbia College of Dental Medicine Tissue Engineering Lab	New York		The Center for Constitutional Rights	New York
Consortium of Conservation Medicine	Washington, DC		The New Yorker and Words Without Borders	New York
CRAWL (Children Resolution and Women Learning)	India		Tuoi Tre (Vietnamese newspaper)	Vietnam
Culture Project	California		UN Millennium Development Project/Earth Institute	Kenya
Fordham University Bronx African American History Project	New York		UN Development Programme/ Association of Women for Action and Research	Uganda/Singapore
Hong Kong Science Museum (CEO Hong Kong)	Hong Kong		Warner Music Group	New York
Legal Aid Society	New York		Women's Health Action Research Center	Nigeria