Thanks to a grant from The Jolley Foundation, The Center for Career Development has up to six $4,000 stipends available this summer for Davidson students who are offered and accept an unpaid internship with a nonprofit organization or government agency anywhere in South Carolina. The purpose of the grant is to encourage students to explore living and working in the state, where historically many Davidson students have not chosen to live after graduation.
2014 marks the third year that these grants have been available. In 2013, Rebecca McKee ’14 explored environmental education and research at the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston, Alexandra Clark ’15 explored law at the City of Charleston Prosecutor’s Office, and Keri Register ’16 explored life at a nonprofit agency through her work with Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands in Columbia. In 2012, Graham Whittington ’14 and Maddie Kern ’13 used the funds to explore the fields of law and marine biology education in Greenville and Edisto Island, respectively. Read the blog posts about these grant recipients’ experiences here on our blog. Note that 2014 grant recipients will likely be required to write blog posts as well.
APPLICATION PROCESS
1. Find an Internship. Apply for unpaid internships in South Carolina with any nonprofit organization or government entity. The Center for Career Development can help guide you through an internship search. Once you are offered the internship, you may apply for the grant.
2. Apply for the Grant. Write a resume and a one-page cover letter (addressed to the South Carolina Internship Grant Selection Committee) that describes your internship and its relevance to your professional and academic goals. The letter should also include the e-mail address of your supervisor or the internship coordinator at the organization where you have been offered an internship. Submit these documents by e-mail to careers@davidson.edu. You may wish to have a career adviser review them during walk-in hours (1:30 – 3:30, M – F) to make sure that they are in the best possible shape before submitting them.
FAQ
Q: Does the internship have to be full-time?
A: You must work a minimum of 300 hours over the course of the summer to qualify for the grant. There is no minimum number of total weeks or hours per week as long as you meet this minimum hour requirement.
Q: I want to apply, but I’m having trouble locating suitable internships. Where do I start?
A: Stop by the Center for Career Development during walk-in hours, 1:30 – 3:30, and we can review some helpful resources and help you come up with a networking and search strategy.
Q: What if I find an unpaid internship with a for-profit (a bank, a law firm, etc.)?
A: We are only able to fund internships with nonprofits and government agencies with the grants.
Questions: Jeff Kniple, Center for Career Development, jekniple@davidson.edu