Introduction

1. ENHANCING EDUCATION THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS WITH UTILITIES Sharon A. Jones, PE, PhD--Lafayette College1 Amy Zander--Clarkson University2 Douglas T. Jones--Town of Oro Valley Arizona3 Introduction Conclusions The American Water Works Association (AWWA) contracted authors 1 and 3 to survey utilities and academic programs regarding their interest in an AWWA sponsored web site that would encourage student internships at water utilities. The AWWA University Student Activities Committee, in conjunction with the AWWA Technical and Education Council Members initiated this project in keeping with AWWA’s efforts to attract younger members to the association. Author 2 supervised this project for AWWA. Over 2,000 surveys were distributed in summer 2001 with a response rate of 18.5% for utilities, and between 11% and 33% for academic programs (see note B). The results provide bench marking information for academic departments interested in enhancing their internship programs. • The reported results are for the most part expected and can be summarized by the statement that “internships are beneficial for students and more opportunities are needed.” • Other conclusions are: • 55% of the utilities, and 34% of the academic programs are pleased with their current internship programs. • Biggest problem is the ability to hire qualified students for internships. • The ability to hire qualified interns depends on the majors at the nearest academic institutions. For the most part, utilities do not have the resources to recruit for interns nationally. • Utilities have problems with intern productivity because, for the most part, they do not have formalized internship programs, and most internships occur during the summers as opposed to longer-term co ops. • Utilities need help with both developing formal intern programs, and recruiting qualified students. Utility Responses Methodology • A. Develop a survey for utilities and for professors. The surveys included four categories of questions: • General information about respondent’s organization. • Previous experience with internship programs. • Future interest in hiring interns (for utilities only). • Interest in an AWWA sponsored web-based internship forum. • B. Distribute surveysas follows: • ASCE listing of civil engineering and engineering technology department heads - 318 • AEESP membership mailing list - 902 • AWWA’s listing of water utility managers (population served of over 50,000) - 814 • Booth at AWWA’s 2001 Annual Conference. • Incentive to respondents. • C. Analyze survey responses. • D. Provide recommendations to AWWA. A Boiler Plate Internship Program • Competitive salary. • Training program for practical issues that are not covered in detail in academic programs. • Field/plant trips to expose interns to all aspects of the organization. • Examples of appropriate short-term versus long-term internship projects with appropriate up front goals. • Performance evaluation. • Completion certificates. • Coordinator/champion of program. • Recruitment material including web sites, sample job announcements, and sample letters to regional academic programs. Formal Internship Programs • Indian Health Service’s Jr COSTEP for JR and SR engineering and environmental science majors on Native American reservations in structured internships. • American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) offers the Internship program “Entry Point” for students with disabilities who are sponsored to work for companies such as NASA, IBM, etc. • Washington Internships for Students of Engineering introduces technical students to public policy. • The Fulbright program offers foreign students the opportunity to come to the USA for an internship, and for USA students to go abroad for an internship. • CDS International is an internationally operating organization sponsored by the US Congress and the German Bundestag that allows USA students to do internships in Germany. The opportunities vary from a few weeks up to 18 months duration and most are open to engineering students. • Job Reservoir allows employers to post their job offers, and students to post their resumes on this website. • Environmental Careers Organization offers a web site for temporary jobs and more permanent positions across the USA. Update on AWWA’s Efforts Academic Responses Notes • A. The authors deliberately used a broad definition of internship to capture as much information about student-utility interaction. • B. The AEESP and ASCE mailing list included duplicate schools and several faculty from the same school. The survey focused on the institution’s program, and not on individual faculty opinion. • C. The authors were assisted by a student intern, Thorsten Arkenau, Muenster University. • D. Authors 1 and 3 recently changed affiliations. The majority of work on this project was done with the cooperation of their former employers: • Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, IN • City of Bloomington Utilities, Bloomington, IN