Wittenberg University students have a unique opportunity when it comes to internship options available through the school itself.
The Susan Hirt Hagen Center for Civic and Urban Engagement’s Civic Internship program matches selected intern applicants with local partners whose work focuses on community building, civic leadership and have a mission driven purpose.
“These interns are fundamentally interested in creating a positive impact wherever they are,” says Kimberly Creasap, director of The Hagen Center, which works to build connections between Wittenberg and the community through service, internships, research, engaged teaching and learning, and off-campus employment.
Interns attend a three-day orientation, during which they visit sites of local partner organizations and places throughout the city. In 2022, for example, one day included visits to the
Springfield Museum of Art,
Rocking Horse Community Health Center,
Jefferson Street Oasis, and a tour of Downtown Springfield.
Throughout the summer, interns also participate in a weekly dinner with student-led discussions with local leaders.
The Hagen Center currently is seeking community partners, with
proposals due by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1.
The application process for students will begin in February, and the eight-week internships run through June and July.
“The summer internships are a bit different from academic-year internships. While all our students are looking for professional development opportunities and professional skills, the summer interns partner with mission-oriented organizations and are looking for skills on how to be active and engaged citizens in communities,” Creasap says. “What we’re seeing them discover in the program is the importance of relationship building, and how to use those relationships to move something forward in a community.
“They learn how to collaborate with other people, and they’re learning leadership development skills that help them think of leadership as a set of actions instead of a position.”
Mackenzie Morgan fulfilled the Civic Internship program during the summer following her junior year in 2022.
Morgan, who wants to work as an art therapist in the future, partnered with Project Jericho and had the opportunity to work with a variety of younger kids throughout her internship.
A 2019 Troy High School graduate, Morgan had responsibilities that included filing, data entry and helping to facilitate lunch for the participating kids and helping their activities run smoothly.
But, most importantly, Morgan she worked to build relationships with kids who wanted and needed her attention.
Morgan initially wanted to be an art teacher, but gained an interest in adolescent psychology and decided to reroute toward a career path into art therapy.
“We went into the internship experience to give an accurate experience to Mackenzie. We wanted to give her a good look at how our non-profit and organization functions,” says Lauren Houser, director of
Project Jericho. “We wanted to give her some administrative and support services work to have some behind the scenes experience, but we really wanted to make sure she had direct service opportunities to see why we do what we do, the heart that we put into our work and the intentionality of all of our programs.”
Morgan enjoyed her internship experience so much that she started decided to stay with Project Jericho through September.
“The structure and design of the internship experience, and our ability to extend it further has been good not only for Mackenzie, but also for Project Jericho participants,” Houser says. “That consistency is really important to us and has been a real extension of our team.”
All Civic Internship program interns are paid in their roles. While the civic responsibility and leadership skills interns gain could transfer to any future role, there’s always a hope that the internship students might grow a greater attachment to Springfield and choose to dedication their time and talent her in future careers.
Morgan, for example, says she hadn’t considered Springfield much as an option for someplace she’d like to live and work prior to her internship.
“Through the internship, I found that it’s a really strong community. I didn’t realize how nice it is and how many relationships there are between so many different types of people,” Morgan says. “I think it would be a viable option for me to stay near Troy.
“The internship helped frame that view. I knew nothing about Springfield before the internship and I feel like I didn’t have a strong connection before the internship.”
Houser says that showcasing Springfield as a community during summertime months provides a different perspective to interns than what they might have during regular school months.
Students are less tied to academics in the summer, Houser says, which gives them more time to explore and build connections to Springfield as a community outside of campus.
“Wittenberg students need time to do that,” Houser says. “All the summer interns have seen a whole different side of Springfield by being here in the summer.”
Houser herself is a Wittenberg University graduate. Though she didn’t participate in the Civic Internship program, she was introduced to Project Jericho while she was a student.
“Wittenberg did a great job of connecting me with other community entities while I was in college,” Houser says. “I’m not originally from Springfield, but I had created strong relationships and opportunities, and through those I applied for a job at Project Jericho – and that was 10 years ago.”
Houser says that support from the university to encourage its young adult students to grow as engaged citizens and community members is vital.
“When they are connected to organizations, know what’s happening in Springfield, build empathy and get closer to the community, it gives more students real world and real life experiences,” she says. “By seeing and submerging yourself in what Springfield has to offer, you’re going to fall in love with it because your going to fall in love with the people and the relationships that drive what we do.
“That’s been by experience and I hope that’s and experience we can replicate for Mackenzie and others.”