Author: Haley Gray
As part of a rejuvenation of the Community Arts and Public Service (CAPS) program, the Career Development Center (CDC) plans to debut two improved internship experiences called InternLA and InternPDX. These programs provide a $3,500 stipend to Occidental students participating in unpaid internships at one of 33 CDC-selected sites.
CDC Director Valerie Savior created the CAPS program out of a desire to ensure that all Occidental students are able to complete at least one professional internship during their time at the school.
“I understand that students often need to use the summer to have an income. Our commitment is that they have a professional exposure during that summer,” Savior said.
InternLA and InternPDX are funded primarily through large gifts from the Kaplin Foundation, a Washington Post Subsidiary, and from Occidental Trustee Joan Payden.
CAPS, a paid summer internship program available to Occidental students interested in social services, previously offered only six positions at related non-profits. InternLA is intended to make summer internships possible for students with a wider range of interests, according to the CDC website.
“I think one of the things that is really exciting about Occidental is that we are a liberal arts college in a very urban setting. We have the opportunity to join forces with many entities, organizations, global organizations in Los Angeles,” Savior said. “We have a strategic advantage that in some way impunes us to have a strong internship program, to take advantages of our wonderful multicultural city around us.”
InternLA offers 26 positions at 25 sites in the Los Angles area in the fields of Arts and Entertainment, Business and Entrepreneurship, Law and Policy, Media and Technology, Science and Research and Social Services and Advocacy. Students are invited to apply for two of the 25 sites, which include the Grammy Museum, City of Hope and the office of City Council member Jose Huizar.
Ninety-four students applied for this year’s program, of which economics majors seem to be somewhat over-represented, according to Associate Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Brett Schrader. While the intention of the program is to make unpaid internships a possibility for Occidental students of all majors, Schrader noted that only nine of the 94 applications are science majors.
Students who previously participated in the CAPS program are excited to see it expanded into the larger InternLA program.
“It is such a constructive and beneficial program that should be offered to as many students as possible. Offering more sites is also a great decision because it allows students with diverse interests the opportunity to work within their field of study,” psychology and Spanish major Emma Kraft (junior) said of her experience with the CAPS program this past summer
The sites were selected with the help of Occidental alumni, though faculty were able to suggest a few sites, according Schrader. The 31 positions available through InternLA and InternPDX are available exclusively to Occidental students. Urban and Environmental Planning major Estrella Lucero (junior) explained how the site at which she worked changed her career outlook.
“I was able to work for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center [through CAPS],” she said. “It was very empowering to work alongside community organizers and see that working for social justice is in fact a career option.”
InternPDX, a smaller program, is intended to help Portland-based students secure professional summer internships, though it is open all Occidental students. The program is the result of the efforts of Portland-based Occidental parents who initiated this branch of the program in collaboration with CDC staff, according to Schrader.
The 31 applicants chosen for internships through the program will be notified of their selection on April 12.
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