Access to Opportunity for All, Not the Privileged Few

Expanding internship opportunities
to all students

President’s Report

Access to Opportunity for All, Not the Privileged Few

On FSU President Nancy Niemi’s first day as Director of Faculty Teaching Initiatives for Yale University in 2015, she stood in the foyer of Henry R. Luce Hall and marveled at her surroundings — books by prominent Yale sociologists and anthropologists, artifacts from their travels and studies around the world and posters promoting upcoming speakers who were at the very pinnacle of their fields.

“I marveled at how many of these people I knew, or knew of, and there in the sunlight it hit me — this is what you get when you attend Yale, or any Ivy: access,” Dr. Niemi says. “The students might not be any smarter than any of the rest of us, but it was they, by virtue of being in the right building or classroom on any given day, who could get an internship, a job opportunity or a connection to a book publisher; a business card, a phone number. An opportunity.”It is from this realization that Niemi became convinced that every student at any university should have the opportunity to interact with people who are already active in the workforce, in our communities, in government. A paid internship or co-op can be one of the most impactful experiences students can participate in during their time in college. They offer numerous benefits, including new skills and training, insight into career opportunities, development of professional networks and, for some, job offers right out of college.When Niemi learned that, on average, only 11 percent of FSU’s undergraduate students had participated in some kind of internship over the past seven years, she knew that something had to change.“Every student who attends Framingham State should have the opportunity to participate in at least one paid internship experience, without extending the time it takes them to graduate,” says Niemi. “I believe that, done successfully, we can make it more likely for students to graduate with valuable, career-oriented experience that will better prepare them for the future, restoring a critical opportunity in higher education, currently available only to wealthier students and their families.”Katherine Sieminski, FSU’s Coordinator of Employer Outreach, is part of an internship working group seeking to make Niemi’s vision a reality. The group started by surveying students on why they had not participated in an internship at FSU. “Several clear barriers emerged from that survey, including a lack of pay for the internship, a lack of transportation, and other responsibilities in their personal life,” Sieminski says. “Many of our students already work and are paying their way through school, so they don’t feel they have the time.”The working group quickly established goals to try to ease these burdens, which include targeting funding to provide students with pay for what would otherwise be unpaid internship experiences. They are also looking at providing students with stipends to offset transportation costs, as well as creating more awareness of the free transportation options available throughout MetroWest. The Mancuso Humanities Workforce Preparation Center is also creating a faculty institute to help interested professors imbed career education into their courses. There is still a long way to go, but Niemi is committed to continuing to grow the Center for Student Experience and Career Development at Framingham State by adding more career professionals who can work directly with students to help them understand the importance of meaningful paid internships, and set them up with opportunities that lead to places they may not have imagined could be theirs.

“Every student who attends Framingham State should have the opportunity to participate in at least one paid internship experience, without extending the time it takes them to graduate.”

– Nancy S. Niemi, PhD
President
Framingham State University