The University of Mary Washington has been awarded $200,000 in Virginia Talent + Opportunity Partnership (V-TOP) grants to enhance internship and work-based learning opportunities.
“There’s no substitute for a quality internship as part of the undergraduate experience,” UMW Provost Timothy O’Donnell said. “We are so pleased to have increased support to make this a reality for more UMW students.”
A combination of a pair of $100,000 grants, the Student Internship Support Grant and the Internship Data Collection Grant, the funds bolster an effort already in progress to expand work-based learning at Mary Washington.
“These awards from the Virginia Talent + Opportunity Partnership will support our institutional goal to help students prepare for Life After Mary Washington,” UMW Center for Career and Professional Development Director Antoinette Jenkins said. Life After Mary Washington is the University’s current Quality Enhancement Plan — part of the reaffirmation of accreditation process that happens every 10 years – aiming to weave internships and other career-readiness endeavors into the fabric of the UMW experience.
By the time UMW students graduate, nearly 30 percent have completed some type of internship. Last summer, V-TOP named UMW a “Top Employer for Interns.”
A $250,000 grant awarded to Mary Washington in summer 2022 got the ball rolling by allowing for the creation of the Rappahannock Work and Learn Collaborative (RWLC), also run by Jenkins. Composed of partners representing GO Virginia Region 6 – Fredericksburg, and the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck – the RWLC is charged with expanding work-based learning opportunities, especially paid internships, for K-12 and post-secondary students.
The two new awards will keep the effort moving, with the Student Internship Support Grant supplying 50 students with $2,000 to offset internship-related costs such as transportation, housing, professional attire and supplies. The Internship Data Collection Grant will help procure a platform to collect and analyze student internship participation statistics, filling a shared need for such information by both UMW and the commonwealth. The funding also will provide incentives for students to complete internship preparation training and to report internship participation.
All three grants, which total $450,000, come from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) as part of the Commonwealth Innovative Internship Fund and Program. SCHEV administers the V-TOP program in partnership with the Virginia Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the Virginia Business Higher Education Council.
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Rebecca Barnabi
