The innovative internship model was a presentation topic at the American Small Business Development Center Conference in San Diego last week.
The topic was presented by three Upper Cumber representatives: Tyler Asher and Jodi Pitts of the Upper Cumberland Development District and Michael Aikens of Tennessee Tech’s Rural Reimagined program. Pitts said the innovative internship model is project-based, as opposed to business-based.
“If you had three to five interns in a semester that you could place with business, you would typically see them in three to five businesses,” Pitts said. “With our model, last year we were able to complete 104 projects in 53 local businesses using three to five students per semester.”
Aikens said innovative internships provide students with more real-world experience that they are taking from their classrooms and applying it to their internships, as well as gaining knowledge they wouldn’t otherwise get just in coursework. Aikens said through the innovative internship model, students in the Rural Reimagined program created over $200,000 in community and economic impact.
Asher the presentation went over well, and they have received a lot of interest in businesses moving toward the innovative internship model.
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