News from Illinois Wesleyan

April 26, 2002
Contact: Sherry Wallace, 309/556-3181

Illinois Wesleyan Received Grant from
Illinois Cooperative Work Study

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.—Illinois Wesleyan University was awarded $14,300 this year from the Illinois Cooperative Work Study (ICWS) Program Act to help IWU students broaden their horizons by allowing the university to create more opportunities for students to link their coursework with internship opportunities.

"While internship experience is always a form of compensation, the reality is that students also need money to offset school expenses," said Ann Harding, assistant director of the IWU Career Center and internship coordinator. "This grant aids students who are upperclassmen and permanent residents of Illinois and helps them earn internship experience with some financial reward."

The university’s objectives in terms of placing qualified students in internship positions are: to create more opportunities for students to link their coursework with their internship opportunities and in doing so, this helps to ease the financial burden imposed by tuition and student loans; to create new and stronger ties with business, government and the community; to encourage social and community service on the part of IWU students, thus making them better citizens and to encourage and facilitate the permanent employment of IWU students in Illinois.

According to Harding, a total of 18 students have benefited from the grant program this year.

Some of the non-profit organizations hiring IWU student interns include Community Foundation of McLean County, the City of Bloomington Township, Ecology Action Center, Uniquely Bloomington!, the American Red Cross of the Heartland, Catholic Social Services, the Illinois Heart and Lung Foundation and Bloomington Junior High School. Profit organizations participating in the program include Source Books, AXA Advisors and Fox & Hounds Hair Studio & Day Spa.