Dear students,

We are aware that the events surrounding COVID-19 have been stressful for our students, and want you to know that we are here to fully support you. As described below, we remain fully functioning and also have created some new initiatives to best serve you remotely. We also wanted to communicate some changes to the internship requirement going forward that we hope will alleviate some of the concerns you may have while continuing to support your future careers.

We realize that internships are a very valuable component of the SIPA educational experience, but also are aware that we are in very challenging times. Going forward, students will be given several options for completing their internship requirement. Because of the disruption, any second year students who are doing an internship this semester will be awarded credit for the internship, even if they are not able to meet the hourly requirement. Students will still need to submit an internship report and supervisor evaluation to receive credit.

If travel bans or other disruptions continue into the summer, first year students can choose to fulfill their internship (remotely or in person) in the upcoming academic year, or participate in a professional development module on topics such as negotiation and public speaking, which they can take in the upcoming academic year as well. Because of the University’s current ban on domestic and international travel, the OCS summer grant programs have been postponed. We’ll certainly monitor the University’s stance on summer travel and adapt our programs accordingly.
 

With regard to other OCS services, students and alumni can continue to make advising appointments via SIPAlink, and we will have those appointments over the phone or through Zoom. We will continue to engage employers and external partners via email and phone. Staff will have full use of the web-based tools we normally use during those meetings (Hubspot CRM, LinkedIn, Outlook). We’ll use Social Media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) to announce changes to our services (no walk-ins, increased advising) and updates about the suspension. We’ll continue to post professional development articles and engage with followers, especially on topics related to conducting an internship/job search in this unique time period.

As new initiatives, we have added more advising appointments beyond the 9am-5pm workday to better accommodate students in different time zones. The staff has created “10 Tips for Your Search During a Pandemic” and is planning to start virtual internship/job support groups, with different topics covered (enhancing your LinkedIn profile, virtual networking, etc.). In addition, we will be conducting an employer outreach mailing for remote internship and full-time employment opportunities. We obviously still continue to post internships and jobs, and we have added a “Remote/Virtual” filter under “Position Type” in SIPAlink so students can easily identify those opportunities.

We commend you for your resilience and adaptability as we face the uncertainty of COVID-19. As partners, we will navigate this new terrain as a unified community.

Be well,

The Staff of the Office of Career Services