Externships to give students more options

            Colin Baumgartner

Some students simply cannot give an entire summer to an internship.  For these students it might be time to take a turn as an extern.

            This month marks the official launch of the Center for Career Development's "New Discovery Externship Program." Externships last between one and four weeks long and feature homestays, which allow students to shadow their professional sponsors inside and outside of the workplace.

            "The idea of an externship came about because of the short summer between sophomore and junior years and the calendar challenge it presented to the student," said CCD director Richard Berman. "Three-fourths of abroad programs leave before Labor Day."

            Berman was helped by Marlo Farmerie-Pastore in making this year's launch possible. The program was in "Pilot Phase" last year when it sent out 20 externs. A variety of cities, a variety of alumni, and a variety of areas (ranging from biology to pre-law) made the initial run a success. 

            As a result of this success, the CCD set a goal to create 65 externships for this year. Farmerie-Pastore had just verified number 50 at press time, and expected to have at least 55 in the catalog to be released on Feb. 17. "More and more come in each day," Berman added. 

            Not only will the catalog be available in the CCD on the 17 th , it will be on the web by then too (http://www.kzoo.edu/career/externships/). The process of applying for an externship will move fast, as it will be done by the beginning of March. However, there will be career advisors there to help along with five step-by-step application workshops. 

            The benefits of an externship are practically endless and the homestay aspect was first on Berman and Farmerie-Pastore's list. The homestays are done with K alums that work in the student's field of interest. "This provides a time for the student to get a taste of the industry plus the benefits of one-on-one time," Farmerie-Pastore said. "It shows the balance of personal and professional life."

            The CCD was surprised by the group of K alums that were willing to contribute. "The externships are appealing to a group of alumni that hasn't been as close to the school, because they could not host a 10 to 12 week internship," Berman said. "The alums we've encountered have been very involved with giving back to the community in additional ways, not just financially."

            In addition to this, Berman noted that, "students might not need 10 to 12 weeks to determine an interest. In the one to four weeks a student spends as an extern they can observe hands-on, shadow professional sponsors, and complete a focus project with the help of their sponsor." The focus project has even been the springboard for one student's Senior Individualized Project.

            Though there maybe other similar programs out there, Berman and Farmerie-Pastore have not found one as unique as K's, with its emphasis on homestay and focus projects. Again they like to deflect this credit to the alumni network that has been created. The alum most closely connected to the program, and the primary donor, is Jack Lundeen.

            Lundeen, a lawyer from the Portland, Oregon area, will visit the College for the launch of the program on the 17 th . He has already hosted seven K students during the pilot phase, and plans to host six more externships this upcoming year. In addition to this, Berman credited Lundeen with giving "financial contributions of significant size" as well as being a prime member in conceiving the program. 

            "Like most alumni sponsors, he is open to showing the ins and outs of his profession as well as his life," Farmerie-Pastore said.

            "He enjoys a personal connection to the students," Berman added.

            This personal connection has made externships a success so far, and it should keep the CCD busy with applications at the end of February. Because of their short length, Berman and Farmerie-Pastore expect to see a wide range of students participating. "Seniors can find time to look at other options before they leave, and even freshman could be involved," Berman said. 

            "It is important to note that externships are not here to replace internships, but rather give the student more of an alternative," he said.    

Lundeen Exemplifies Ideal K Spirit

Colin Baumgartner

            It took him almost 35 years, but in the words of John ("Jack") Lundeen K'69, "I finally experienced my Kalamazoo College career service quarter." 

            Lundeen played a key role in the college's pilot phase of the New Discovery Externship Program. "The externship program is an accident of the school calendar," Lundeen explained. In addition to being the primary donor, he hosted seven of the college's 20 extern pilots, ranging in length from a week to a month. He has up to six more lined up in the near future. "I keep coming back because I've been having a ton of fun," he said.

            Lundeen was back in Kalamazoo this week for the official launch of the program and was impressed by the many opportunities offered in the brochure created by the Center for Career Development (CCD). The trip gave the Portland, Oregon area lawyer a chance to visit with the students that had come to work with him. Lundeen feels that maintaining this alumni-student relationship will benefit not only those involved, but the college as well.

            What has amazed the CCD most is Lundeen's relationship to the school. Originally from Midland, Michigan, Lundeen struggled in his first four quarters at K and took time off during his second year to contemplate if college was right for him. He was then drafted into the Vietnam War, a far cry from the study abroad opportunities most students take on. When he returned, the college actually wouldn't take him back because his grades had been so low before, so he turned to the University of Michigan to continue school.

            Though the college wouldn't take back Lundeen, they are sure lucky that he took them back. Lundeen claims he really "liked it here," even though he isn't quite sure why. When he was approached about giving back to the college community over 30 years later, his daughters were out of the house, and he looked at it as an opportunity to give back to the school that he always thought fondly of. "It was just the right time in my life," he said.

            Committed to the idea of the program, Lundeen then had to come up with ideas for focus projects. "The most challenging piece for me is to come up with a task that requires modest supervision," he said. "With the exception of a couple of boring tasks, I've gotten more than I expected out of it."

            The focus project may be the end result of an externship, but its creation can serve as a springboard into a discussion of the professional world between the alumni sponsor and the student. Matt McKillop K'05, who did an externship with Lundeen, feels that his visit was a success because of the relationship he had with Lundeen both in and out of the work atmosphere. "We got along well because we're both pretty direct people," McKillop said.

            These connections are what the CCD is hoping for now that the program is out on a larger scale. "Keeping a relationship with previous externs is going to create continuous threads between students and alumni," Lundeen said. "And ultimately the goal is to get these students to keep a relationship with their college."

            The externship program may have been started by the accident of the school calendar, but its ongoing success, thanks to alumni like Jack Lundeen, is certainly no mistake.