Engineering students can still have a highly impactful summer experience, despite the fact that COVID-19 resulted in the cancellation of many internships. The Student Engineers' Council (SEC) leadership took action when many of their student peers began to lose internships. They developed the SEC-Directed Internship.
At the beginning of April, there was a poll circulated through SEC members asking the status of their summer internships. Unfortunately, around 27% of the internships SEC members had were canceled.
“At first, we wanted to provide something for our members to improve the circumstance, however, the SEC is the representative voice of students within the College of Engineering,” said Kiersten Potter, president of the SEC. “For that reason, it was our responsibility to provide this thinking to the rest of the college. With that, we expanded our efforts by coordinating with engineering entrepreneurship and the career center to get the ball rolling on this initiative.”
The internship aims to provide students within the College of Engineering a framework to develop relevant skills with defined deliverables to include in their resumes – despite the cancellation of an official internship.
“An official internship is not necessary to have high levels of impact,” said Potter. “We are simply here to provide a framework, organize accountability mechanisms, and highlight the incredible resources the College of Engineering already has to offer.”
Registration and a recording of the informational are available on the SEC website now through May 11.
This opportunity is available for all undergraduate and graduate students. The SEC is prioritizing students who have had canceled/rescinded job offers.
“COVID-19 disrupted our normalcy, and the learnings I have had in the Zachry Leadership Program (ZLP) directly played into the development of the SEC-Directed Internship,” said Potter. “ZLP has equipped me to know how to properly respond to abrupt change. I reflected on the situation. I asked myself if there are ways I can help or use the skills and abilities to address my peers’ needs, and, how can I best utilize the incredible people and resources around me to respond? Then we acted.
"Aggies are taught to lead a life of selfless service. SEC saw this opportunity as a way to selflessly serve the college, so we took action," said Potter.