Notre Dame College Fenn Grant Opens Door to Internships for First Generation Students

Imagine a student walking onto a campus for the first time—the first in their family to go to college—and being surrounded by students who have always assumed that college was a given. Everyone else seems to have the inside track on how to navigate the system.

Now imagine how that student would learn about internships: How many are available? How can you apply? How can you afford to take an unpaid 40-hour internship when your family can’t shoulder this additional expense?

These are questions so many first-generation students have. And now, thanks to a new Fenn Educational Fund grant from the Cleveland Foundation, these questions have easy answers.

The two-year grant will partially fund a career services director who can act as the navigator to help first-generation students traverse the often-confusing internship waters. The career services director will be a portal to the educational enhancements that are so critical to securing Notre Dame students’ education to employment pipeline.

Ninety students now will have experiential learning opportunities with 40-hour paid internships. Students will also receive RTA passes or parking vouchers to defray the barriers to internships caused by a lack of affordable or available transportation. These internship openings will also help the College develop appropriate curricula to meet employers’ needs.

The two-year Fenn Educational Fund grant will also provide interview training for students to succeed in digitized interview experiences.

Human resource departments increasingly use artificial intelligence, one-sided screening tools and personality tests to streamline their interview processes. Unfortunately, these initial screenings cannot assess the lived experiences or soft skills that first-generation or non-traditional students possess.

These trainings, as well as guest speakers from local businesses, will help to position Notre Dame students for success in the classroom, internship sites and in their chosen career fields.

December 2021