Tag Archives: Summer Internships

TSU excels in Providing Interns for mayor’s Opportunity NOW Program

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Tennessee State University is putting more students to work this summer under Mayor Megan Barry’s Opportunity NOW program.

A report from the mayor’s office shows that 51 TSU students applied for positions with the program, more than any other university or college in the Davidson County area.

An initiative launched earlier this year by Mayor Barry, Opportunity NOW seeks to provide young people in Davidson County access to employment.

Treasure Giddens, a senior chemistry major from Detroit, is one of the TSU student interns in the program this year. She will work as a peer coach at McGavock High School.

“I am excited about the opportunity to mentor students, something I have always loved to do,” Giddens said.

Through its Experiential Learning and Job Development office, TSU’s Career Development Center partnered with the mayor’s workforce development team to see how TSU students could benefit from the program.

Charles Jennings, the center’s director, said “the response was great.”

“We were presented with an opportunity to provide students for the program,” Jennings said. “As a team, we marketed it heavily to a lot of students who came to our office who were looking for summer internships. To hear from the mayor’s office that we topped other schools just goes to show how well prepared our students are to embrace the workforce.”

The goal is to hire 9,000 young people — ages 15-24 — for summer employment with businesses and organizations around Nashville.

“We want to connect youth to hope, and that means connecting them to opportunity and jobs,” Barry said at the launching of the program. “I want for our youth what I want for everyone in our city – a chance to succeed.”

Christina Smith is also participating in the program.  A senior psychology major from Memphis, she is thinking about teaching after graduate school. She is assigned to Hunters Lane High School, where she will teach job training skills to students.

“I think this is a great opportunity for me to just get a feel of how kids younger than me operate and how to go about interacting with them,” Smith said.

On how TSU was able to attract so many students to the Opportunity NOW program in such a short period, Chandria Harris, coordinator of Experiential Learning and Job Development, said “teamwork and getting all departments involved was very helpful.”

“From Tiger Track to collaborating with other colleges and coordinators and directors, posting the information, and going after students who needed internships, we were able to capture the 51 students,” Harris said.

The partnership with Opportunity NOW is just one of many efforts the Career Development Center has initiated to expose TSU students to career and job opportunities.

That, combined with the level of job-readiness preparation students are receiving in the classroom, is making TSU graduates more attractive to potential employers.

For instance, a number of students who received degrees at TSU’s May commencement are fully employed at some of the nation’s major companies, such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Bank of America, BMW and Raytheon.

“I am so pleased with the innovative and exemplary work executed by our CDC team,” said Dr. Jame’l Hodges, assistant vice president for administrative support in TSU’s Division of Student Affairs. “The CDC team and overall Division of Student Affairs will continue to raise the bar in meeting industry standards, and aligning with high- impact practices all while upholding the mission of TSU.”

For more information about TSU’s Career Development Center, visit http://www.tnstate.edu/careers/

 

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 25 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

 

TSU Extension Summer Intern Program Aims to Inspire Future Educators, Farmers

TSUGroup
The College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Sciences has selected nine student interns for the summer Cooperative Extension Program to help them learn about careers in agriculture while working with agents in the field. Those selected include: (back row, left to right) Dr. Tyrone Miller, assistant professor of Leadership and Organizational Development,  Latetricia Wilson, Kyle Ward, Ciera Scott, George Davis, and Dr. Latif Lighari, associate dean for Extension. (seated left to right) DiJuana Davis, Raynette Johnson, Passion Echols, and Stephon Brisco. (courtesy photo)

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Tennessee State University’s College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Sciences Cooperative Extension Program has announced the selection of nine student interns for summer 2014.

The summer extension internship program is designed to help students learn about the Cooperative Extension Program and other careers in agriculture while working with extension agents and other professionals in county offices throughout Tennessee.

“This internship is an excellent opportunity for participants to build their resumes and help improve the lives of Tennesseans over the course of ten weeks, doing everything full-time extension agents do,” said Dr. Latif Lighari, associate dean for Extension. “They’ll get the chance to teach educational programs, visit farms and homes, conduct research, attend 4-H camp, assist with county fairs, help with field days, network with local decision makers and prepare public-facing communication material, all while building the essential leadership, problem-solving, and organization skills that are necessary to succeed in extension or any other career.”

The nine interns selected are:

  • Latetricia Wilson, a senior Child Development major from Memphis, Tennessee, who will intern in Shelby and Fayette Counties;
  • Raynette Johnson, a junior Agricultural Education, Leadership & Extension major from Mumford, Tennessee, who will intern in Haywood County;
  • Ciera Scott, a 2014 Family & Consumer Sciences graduate from Columbus, Ohio, who will intern in Robertson County;
  • Passion Echols, a graduate student in Agricultural Education, Leadership & Extension from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, who will intern in Bedford County;
  • George Davis, a junior Agricultural Sciences major from Memphis, who will intern with the Tennessee Deptartment of Agriculture in Davidson County;
  • Kyle Ward, a junior Agriculture Education & Extension major from Halls, Tennessee, who will intern in Williamson County;
  • DiJuana Davis, a 2014 Agricultural Sciences/Agribusiness graduate from Nashville, who will intern in Davidson County;
  • G. Stephon Brisco Jr., a junior Agricultural Sciences/Agribusiness major from Nashville via Lansing, Michigan, who will intern in Rutherford County; and
  • Ariel Harrell, a 2013 Agricultural Sciences graduate from Covington, Tennessee, who will intern with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture in Davidson County.

“Even though this is our first year offering this program we had a great pool of students to select from,” said Dr. Tyrone Miller, assistant professor of Leadership and Organizational Development and coordinator of the summer internship program. “The selected interns are exceptional, well-rounded students with strong interests in careers in cooperative extension and the agriculture industry. I am very confident that they will represent and showcase the excellent students we have at Tennessee State University and gain valuable job skills in the process.”

At the end of the ten week program, each intern will develop and present a PowerPoint presentation on their internship experience alongside the summer extension interns from the University of Tennessee.

For more information, contact Dr. Tyrone Miller at (615) 963-1843 or [email protected].

 

 

Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

 

About Tennessee State University

With nearly 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.