FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
(574) 284-4579 (desk)
December 7, 2009 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—Saint Mary’s College’s Cross Currents Program will partner with five local non-profit organizations to initiate its Internship Development Program, an intensive internship development program designed to help the non-profits learn how to effectively start, manage and sustain internship programs. The organizations chosen to participate are: the Family Justice Center of St. Joseph County, the Literacy Council of St. Joseph County, Logan Center, the Northern Indiana Cancer Research Consortium and the Suicide Prevention Council of St. Joseph County.
Saint Mary’s College recognizes the profound impact that internships can have on students. “Internships provide an opportunity for students to explore their passions in a real world environment, while utilizing the knowledge and skills they have gained through their liberal arts education at Saint Mary’s College,” says Tricia Dunton, assistant director of the College’s Career Crossings Office. “Without internships, students may struggle to understand how their passions and life calling connect to the deepest needs of local communities and extend further to the needs of the world.”
The Cross Currents Program is an enhanced student advising system, which debuted at Saint Mary’s in the fall. The program helps students navigate not only their majors, but also who they are as individuals. The program integrates programs offered by the College’s Academic, Mission and Student Affairs divisions and has the student consider four questions over their four years at the College: Who am I? What is my passion? To what am I called? How can I make a positive difference in the world? The Career Crossings Office facilitates many aspects of the Cross Currents Program, including student internships.
A grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc., awarded to the College late last year, will fund the College’s Internship Development Program. In December 2008, Lilly awarded Saint Mary’s a five-year sustaining grant of $359,000 to continue the Endowment’s “Initiative to Promote Opportunity through Educational Collaborations.” It is the second phase of the Initiative, which began at the College in December 2003 with a $750,000 grant. The initiative calls for the College to develop programs to help retain students within Indiana after graduation to stave off state’s so called “brain drain,” where students are educated in Indiana and find work in another state. The sustaining grant, combined with the College’s match of $363,000 and $35,000 remaining from the original grant, will allow the College to continue the successful activities initiated under the original grant and to launch a series of new activities, like the Internship Development Program.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. Saint Mary’s College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Saint Mary's College ranks among the nation's top 100 liberal arts colleges in U.S. News & World Report's 2010 annual survey. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.
