Summer Internship Program Cultivates Newark’s Future Workforce Leaders

“Did you realize that this is your first day of work?” asked Sonja Williams, the Workforce Investment Act youth coordinator for the Newark Youth One Stop Career Center.

Several heads nodded in hesitation as Williams instructed the students to complete their time sheets. They began thumbing through orientation packets containing time sheets, pay schedules, and rules and regulations for the next eight weeks.

One hundred fifteen students representing more than 35 colleges gathered on Monday, June 2, 2015 for the official start of the NCI Summer Internship program. Created by the Newark City of Learning Collaborative’s (NCLC) Newark College Institute, the program gives Newark residents attending four-year colleges the opportunity to gain work experience through a paid internship lasting a minimum of two months. The internship program is one of several Rutgers University–Newark initiatives dedicated to strengthening K-20 educational pathways, and advances NCLC’s goal to increase the number of Newark residents with a postsecondary education from 17 percent to 25 percent by 2025.

Students are assigned to sites throughout Newark ranging from hospitals to daycare centers, based on their fields of study and interests.

Dale Robinson-Anglin, senior program officer at the Victoria Foundation, challenged the students to use this opportunity to think about their roles in the community. With a history of supporting Newark children and families, the Victoria Foundation recently added a focus on postsecondary education and helped create the NCLC. Robinson-Anglin said that the foundation encourages students to have a stake in Newark’s future.  

“You must answer the call to be a leader in Newark’s revival,” Robinson-Anglin said.

Now in its third year, the program was familiar to the majority of students, who were starting their second or third internships. They offered advice to new participants, stressing the importance of professionalism, asking questions, and networking.

One program veteran was Caldwell University junior Dhandevi Deokie, who became involved with the program through her initial participation in the Newark College Freshman Institute, a four-day workshop that prepares incoming college freshman for success in their academic careers.

“I worked at [Newark Beth Israel Medical Center] last summer and will be there this summer,” Deokie said.  “It was a great opportunity for me, and I’m glad to be there again because now I know some very nice people. It also means networking, so that you build relationships and people know you and can provide references and job opportunities in the future.”

Monday’s orientation concluded with a group activity in which students were assigned to different divisions in fictional software companies and asked to develop an innovative app that represents Newark.

“We’re really not looking for the product itself, but the students’ process to get this task done…how they manage their time, and how they’re communicating and participating,” said Nicole Fields, the curriculum developer for The Newark College Institute.  “The students have a checklist that asks them to identify the various skills that were used in this activity, and it becomes our baseline in terms of [their skill levels] and gives us a sense of where we want to double down on our skill development.”

Fields said that every week the students will receive an assignment that allows for deeper exploration and development of the skills needed for internships and employment after graduation.

Kean University senior Isaac Nelson, a first-time participant, said that he is excited to gain work experience and overcome some of his anxieties like public speaking. “I’m looking forward to growth, development and building professionalism, and to not be afraid to take on difficult tasks.”