UNM offers internships in D.C.

by Lorinda Toledo

Daily Lobo

UNM is giving undergraduates the opportunity to participate in a congressional internship program in Washington, D.C., this fall.

The program is open to undergraduate students who have completed a minimum of 60 credit hours while maintaining at least a 3.0 GPA.

There are five slots available for students who want the opportunity to be involved in the public policy process. Each will be placed in one of five New Mexico congressional delegation offices in the D.C. area.

Every student chosen will receive a $4,000 grant to cover living expenses and will stay in housing designated by UNM.

Interim Provost Reed Dasenbrock said he is optimistic about the internship program.

"It's one of the things that we are getting started as part of the agenda for excellence in undergraduate education," Dasenbrock said, referring to an initiative created to promote other UNM programs such as study abroad and the Research Service Program.

These programs are designed to give students firsthand career knowledge and experience outside of the classroom.

Dolores Gonz†lez, senior project manager, said they are looking for top UNM students to participate in the program.

"We're hoping it will be competitive, because we hope to select the best individuals to go and represent the University," she said.

The program will be offered in semester-long increments, Gonz†lez said, which will help students get a valuable experience with meaningful work.

In addition to the internship, which will consist of 24 hours to 32 hours per week, the students chosen will be expected to maintain full-time enrollment status. The 12 credit hours needed will be earned in various ways with the help of UNM faculty.

Professors Ellen Grigsby, Mike Rocca and Fred Harris will coordinate political science credits.

"In our society, having a good understanding of the system is important to understand the stake that we all have in it and its relationship to us," said Grigsby, who will be working closely with students to help them comprehend what they are experiencing in their internships.

Other course credits can be obtained through independent study courses, which students arrange with a faculty member from their area of study. Students needing more than 12 credit hours are encouraged to obtain them through additional independent study or online courses.

Dasenbrock said UNM is helping students get political internships they could normally only get from programs offered at universities in Washington, D.C.

Those institutions can come with a hefty price tag, he said.

Guest speakers from the Washington, D.C., area are also expected to lecture regularly as part of the program. According to Dasenbrock and Gonz†lez, the staff and congressional delegation in the Capitol have responded with great enthusiasm for the program.

Since the students will be maintaining full-time enrollment, they will be eligible to keep any financial aid they have available to them, including the New Mexico Lottery Success Scholarship.

"I think (this program) is a great opportunity because being from that area, I see how competitive the summer internships really are," said UNM student Sylvie Reydams, who is a political science and women's studies major from Virginia.

Jennifer Trujillo, a sophomore majoring in political science and Spanish, agrees.

"My concerns are alleviated because UNM is giving (students) all the right tools to succeed," she said.

Although this is the first time UNM is offering this internship, the program is being modeled after larger and more established programs at other universities, such as Texas Tech, the University of California-Davis and Boston University, all of which have established headquarters in Washington, D.C., and place as many as 40 students per semester.

"Everybody benefits from this program," Gonz†lez said. "The students retain their full-time status so they are getting credit toward their degree. They get some experience working (on Capitol Hill), which is very different than just being here in Albuquerque and sitting in a classroom."

Students seeking additional information or an application can contact Gonz†lez at 277-5604, or they can log on to www.unm.edu/~acadaffr/dcinternship.