Public Lands Employment Day Tomorrow

Published: January 26, 2010 | Read Time: 2 minutes

Southern Utah University students of all majors will have a preview of countless summer job opportunities through the Intergovernmental Internship Cooperative's Public Lands Employment Day, to be held on Wednesday, January 27 from 10:30 - 2:30 in the Student Center Living Room.

Included in the employment day will be information on summer job opportunities, career track positions, and "how-to" instruction relative to obtaining a job with the public land managing agencies. Students from all disciplines are encouraged to attend. There will be representatives from Dixie National Forest, Utah State Parks and Recreation, Utah Forestry, Fire, and State Lands, National Parks Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. Because most of these agencies do their seasonal hiring before February, the employment day is a now-or-never opportunity for summer jobs.

The Intergovernmental Internship Cooperative (IIC) is a partnership between SUU and the public land agencies that collaborate to provide educational and work experiences to SUU students through internship and career development opportunities. IIC partners include Cedar Breaks, Pipe Spring, Grand Canyon-Parashant and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments; Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks; Dixie National Forest; Arizona Strip and Color Country Districts of the Bureau of Land Management; Utah State Parks and Recreation; and Southern Utah University.

The IIC was created in 2007 as an Outdoor Recreation Parks and Tourism program. Due to early success, the program expanded and became what it is today: a fully functioning cooperative. Today, the IIC facilitates internship and career development opportunities all across southwestern Utah and portions of Arizona and Nevada.

When it comes to student majors, the IIC provides internships for everything from accounting to zoology. Internships are generally available for nearly any major, although outdoor recreation and science majors are in particularly high demand.

The IIC is hoping to have 30-40 student interns working this spring in addition to the regular seasonal hires. The internships are most often paid, and generally students can earn upper-division credit while working. Internships provide valuable work experience without being too demanding on students' time. They are usually project-based, and can sometimes help to earn scholarships.

Up to this point, the IIC has had a total of 30 paid interns, 25 practicum students, and several volunteers. Previous cooperative interns have done everything from law enforcement to graphic design. Many summer jobs are available through the cooperative, as well as more paid internships. All IIC opportunities will be posted on SUU's CareerNet. Further information can also be attained by contacting Seth Ohms, the IIC Campus Coordinator, or Steve McCarthy, the IIC Agency Coordinator.

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Contact Information:

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