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Win-win for 10-10
New public policy and administration internship program helps all
involved.
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It's a classic example of where everyone wins.
That's the opinion of Paul Coates, associate professor of political science,
about the new 10-10 Internship Program instituted by the Public Policy
and Administration Program within the Department of Political Science.
Students in the Masters of Public Administration (MPA) Program now have
an opportunity to not only work as graduate assistants in the department,
but the new 10-10 program also allows them to participate in a concurrent
internship.
"There are winners all around," said Coates, who is coordinating
the program. "The agency the students are working for get a good
employee, the students get to complete their internship requirements for
their degree and have an assistantship, and the department also gets to
utilize the students in the office."
Students participating in the 10-10 Internship Program will spend 10 hours
a week at their internships and another 10 hours with responsibilities
for their assistantships.
The agency pays roughly half of the tuition and salary benefits that the
students will receive in an academic year. The Public Policy and Administration
Program pays the other half.
"This is a wonderful option to get students interested in our program,"
Coates said. "It puts them into a real-world work environment, but
also has them working on a research project with one of our faculty members."
Currently three 10-10 internships have been established - one each at
the Story County Land Trust, the Iowa Department of Revenue and Finance,
and the Department of Management.
Coates says the MPA program will continue to pursue additional 10-10 internships
with state and federal government offices in Des Moines.
"We see public administration as an engaged discipline with state
and local governments," he said, "and the agencies we've talked
to want to be involved in encouraging people coming into these types of
jobs. By doing that they are helping train the next generation of public
administration officials."
Coates also hopes to partner with more nonprofit agencies and some local
governments.
Laura Barclay is one of the first students to take advantage of the 10-10
Internship Program. A second-year MPA student, Barclay is completing an
internship with the Story County Community Land Trust.
She is also working with Rick Morse, assistant professor of political
science, as the project manager on the Olive Tree project, which is facilitating
discussions among Iowa’scounties and cities on shared local services.
"I'm really interested in working for a non-profit agency after I
graduate," Barclay said, "and learning what it is like to work
for a non-profit. The 10-10 program is a perfect opportunity for that.
"There's a big difference between theory and reality," she said.
The flexibility the 10-10 Internship Program offers is important to full-time
students Barclay says.
"It's a very manageable way to have an internship and still go to
school full-time," she said.
Around LAS
September 20 to October 3, 2004
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