News Brief: NYIT Interns Earn a Collective $3 Million

NYIT students have earned a collective $3 million from paid internships.

“The $3 million represents earnings from the Internship Certificate Program (ICP), which is a co-curricular internship program designed to support students’ experience by ensuring that they meet their learning goals, develop skills employers want, and get evaluations from the internship supervisor,” said Adrienne McNally, M.S., director of experiential education.

The ICP was established in 2009 and runs every fall, spring, and summer semester. As of spring 2018, 1,587 students have participated in placements at approximately 1,000 unique employers. Students from every school at NYIT participate in the program. “What sets the ICP apart from typical college/university internship programs is the focus on employee citizenship,” said McNally. “Employee citizenship is how employees, interns, and volunteers practice citizenship (the rights and responsibilities) at that organization. At the start, end, and throughout the ICP we train students on what employee citizenship is, give them activities to do at their placements to grow as employee citizens, and then challenge them to use the skills they’ve developed as employee citizens in their other communities.”

On average 60 percent of ICP participants are offered continuing work at their ICP placement. In summer 2017 this rate reached almost 70 percent. “This is a testament to our students, who are recognized by ICP supervisors as being hard-working, willing to get their hands dirty, interested in learning about their industry and major, and excellent colleagues,” McNally said.