������Ƶ

Over the past year, I’ve met numerous people who have hosted UTampa students as interns at their business or nonprofit organization. Inevitably, I’ve been told that those students were the best interns they’ve ever had — from any university. When you hear that the first time, you take it with a grain of salt. But when you hear it time after time, from various people in the community, you can’t help believing there is truth to the sentiment.

So what’s behind that? Clearly much of it lies in our effort to balance “learning by thinking” with “learning by doing.” Our faculty are doing an outstanding job preparing students in the classroom, so they are ready to take their knowledge into the real world — whether it be in accounting, graphic design or marine biology. Classes are such that students engage with faculty, work collaboratively with other students, and solve complex problems — all critical skills in the working world. We’ve also structured many academic and co-curricular programs to engage students early and help them prepare for an internship experience.

You can read stories on the UTampa website about recent student internship experiences at such places as L’Oreal, Tampa Bay Sun Football Club, Vu Technologies, Ironman Foundation, Florida Justice Center and Warwick Country Club.

It’s well known that internships provide a foundation for students to gain industry insights, “reality test” career paths, develop their professional network and fine-tune their Spartan Ready skills — all while potentially receiving academic credit. With an internship and UTampa’s outstanding academic program, students can graduate and look for jobs beyond entry level.

Likewise, it’s well known that internships greatly benefit businesses and organizations. Interns provide a pipeline for new talent; they can offer an organization new insights and perspectives from a more youthful mindset; and they can increase productivity for a company. Plus, the interns are adept at new technology and AI.

Many of you had internships during your time at UTampa, and many of you may say that your internship was key to launching your career. A great way to support the University would be to advocate for internships in your business or organization, or to be an internship mentor for a UTampa student. The more opportunities we can give students to get real-world experience to augment their academic studies, the more success they will have upon graduation. For more information on establishing an internship at your organization or hiring a UTampa student, contact Career Services at hireut@ut.edu.

As you may know, “Internships for All” is a University initiative that I strongly support. I believe every student who graduates from UTampa with a bachelor’s degree should have experienced a paid internship, which will help them be ready to enter the workforce as a competitive, experienced candidate, regardless of their major. And, as we see AI chipping away at the entry-level job market, the more important an internship becomes. It’s also why we have created the Tampa Bay Nonprofit Endowed Fund, which is intended to support students financially who intern with local nonprofits that can’t typically fund internships.

Take a moment and think back to the first day of your summer internship, compared to where you are now, and then think of what you can do today for future students. Thanks, and Go Spartans!

Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg, Ph.D.
President