02/17/17
HAYS, Kan. -- Applications are now open for businesses to seek summer 2017 interns from Fort Hays State University's W.R. and Yvonne Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship.

Selected businesses are required to provide $500 towards the internship, which will be matched with $2,000 in grant funding. Students will be paid and have tax withholding and workers' compensation paid by FHSU.

The college's Management Development Center is finishing a third year of the intern pairing service, which allows businesses in northwest Kansas to be matched with an intern from the Robbins College.

The Center for Entrepreneurship at FHSU has taken over the portion of the internship program, funded by Peter and Pamela Werth, that pairs students with entrepreneurial businesses. Interested applicants can direct questions to Henry Schwaller.

"Thanks to funding from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, the program is extremely affordable for business owners and allows students to gain valuable experience in their field of study while being paid," said Sabrina William, director of the MDC.

Interested businesses determine how a student intern could help their business thrive. On the application, the business will identify their needs and decide what responsibilities would fall under the interns' duties. Internship opportunities may be available in the areas of accounting, business communications, computer networking, economics, finance, human resources, management information systems, marketing, operations management, sales, tourism and hospitality, Web design and more.

Examples of projects include but are not limited to:
• Managing social media marketing efforts.
• Planning and executing a promotion or event.
• Establishing a recruitment and selection process.
• Developing a marketing plan.
• Building a competitive analysis strategy.
• Developing a training program for a specific set of operational procedures.
• Analyzing operation processes to determine efficiency.

Business owners are expected to work with the intern by setting initial and any revised expectations and provide guidance and insight over the course of the internship. They are also expected to complete an evaluation form at the end of the semester.

Students will gain valuable experience completing the project and will learn about the operations, challenges, and rewards of business. Students, in some cases, may also choose to register for course credit for the internship.

Full internships are expected to be approximately 240 hours in length. Students will work an average of 20 hours per week over the course of the 12-week term.

For more information, contact Nicholas Schmidt, MDC graduate assistant, at (785) 628-4739 during business hours. Businesses interested in this opportunity can locate the business application at www.fhsu.edu/cob/mdc/Internship-Program/ and email their completed application to ncschmidt.se@fhsu.edu.

The priority deadline for business applications is Wednesday, March 8, 2017. With limited funding, businesses and students will be selected through a competitive selection process.

To qualify, businesses must be located in the following northwest Kansas counties: Cheyenne, Cloud, Decatur, Ellis, Ellsworth, Gove, Graham, Jewell, Lincoln, Logan, Mitchell, Norton, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Rawlins, Republic, Rooks, Russell, Saline, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Thomas, Trego, and Wallace.

Interested students may contact the MDC or login to TigerTracks and visit the JobX website between the end of March and mid-April to view the available internships and submit their application.