Ohio State offers internship for Columbus Public Schools’ students

COLUMBUS – Giving Columbus Public Schools’ students a full-time summer job while preparing them for college is the goal of the Student Affairs Student Internship Program at The Ohio State University.

Now in its third year, the internship gives 75 high school and former Columbus Public Schools students now in college the chance to earn at least $7.25 an hour for housekeeping, food-service or recreational sports duties. The university also provides the interns with free training, COTA bus passes, meals and uniforms.
Although the students are paid for an entire 40-hour week, they spend five hours of it taking seminars and classes that prepare them for success in college.

“The program gives students tools to be successful in college,” said William Hall, vice president for Student Affairs. “We believe that students who excel in a collegiate environment have a better chance of pursuing and achieving their professional goals.”

A new part of the program allows student interns to take either a full-credit, university-level African and African-American Studies history course or a preparatory course for either the Kaplan American College Test (ACT) or the ninth-grade proficiency test. Interns also attend weekly seminars that focus on all aspects of college life.

The 10-week program was created to help Columbus Public School students fulfill their school-system mandated internship and to fill a summertime need in the university’s Student Affairs’ conference housing department. On average, the interns earn about $3,000 during the summer. This year, between 200 and 300 students were either pre-screened or interviewed for the 75 available positions. Thirty-one former interns elected to return to the program.

David Rugless, director of the internship program and workforce development coordinator in Student Affairs, says the program helps students “believe in and achieve” a college education.

“Although college aspirations are not screening criteria for the program, we are here to help the students go anywhere they want to go,” Rugless said. “The goal is to help them recognize the value of the college experience as it relates to working toward their careers.”

Shaunessy McDonald, a senior at South High School, is one of nearly 20 students taking the ACT prep course. She said her score has improved by eight points from the first to the second practice test.

“The program showed me how to break down the problems in the ACT,” she said. “I am still going to try to get my score up before the class is over.”

According to Kelly Barcus, an internship coordinator for Columbus Public Schools who helps oversee the Kaplan ACT prep course, the class’s average score improved from 15.2 to 20 in just three weeks. Columbus Public Schools pays for the Kaplan course.

“The course is giving our interns an advantage because the test is not easy; it is very challenging,” Barcus said. “This is a very valuable course for them. Most of the students are averaging a 4.5-point improvement in their score.”

The internship also offers an early college acceptance program, which gives students who maintain a 3.7 high school GPA a chance to be selected early to attend Ohio State.

James Lucas, manager in building services and program staff assistant, says the interns are not required to be college-bound students. However, if interns are interested in pursuing a higher education, university officials will help prepare them to attend any college or university.

“We are here to help them go wherever they want to go,” Lucas said.

Nearly 30 students from the 2001 and 2002 programs were admitted to Ohio State. Other interns either plan to attend or are attending colleges or universities throughout the state.

The program also prepares students to get the most out of college by offering seminars on issues like getting involved in campus life, applying for scholarships and internships, and writing resumes and admissions applications.

Intern Heather Dilworth, a freshman last year at Ohio Dominican College who is transferring to Ohio State, said she is thinking about joining a sorority after attending the student-involvement seminar.

“Last year, I really didn’t get involved and didn’t know anybody in college,” she said. “It’s nice to learn about ways to get involved with college organizations at Ohio State.”

Dilworth, who has worked in the internship program since its inception, says she was able to help pay for a school-sponsored, spring break trip to Italy with money she saved from working the previous summer. “The money here has been really helpful,” she said.

And since the internship takes place on Ohio State’s campus, Rugless said students get a taste of the college experience. “Our concern is not just with their work and their academics, but with their everyday lives,” he said.