This commentary is by Vin Favoroso, coordinator of Partner Engagement and Workforce Development at Northern Vermont University.
Picture this: The opportunity as an undergraduate student to work with an early-stage technology company helping to improve electric system reliability under extreme weather.
Now imagine getting paid for that opportunity while earning credit toward your degree.
That’s just one of many options available to Northern Vermont University students through the Learning and Working Communities program established this past June. The program connects local businesses to NVU, bridging the gap between the workplace and the classroom.
Thanks to generous support from alumni, the Learning and Working Communities Program awarded financial support to 27 NVU students this summer. Students worked in youth education, in substance abuse prevention, and at Yellowstone National Park. They developed an outdoor company ecommerce store, helped manage a university athletics department, served as audio engineers for live concerts, forecasted weather, and more.
The Learning and Working Program gives students a hands-on approach to learning. This approach enables students to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom in a professional environment to get real-live exposure in their chosen field of study.
It’s not only students who benefit from the program. Our partnership development work helps local businesses attract and retain employees, create higher-paying jobs, offer professional development certification and courses to meet businesses’ needs, and draw students to NVU.
It exemplifies the symbiotic relationship that NVU plays in the community — benefiting students, the university, and the employer community alike. It is a true classroom-to-workforce pipeline. The Learning and Working Program exemplifies the hands-on, interactive learning experience NVU students deserve.
We are working to develop two innovative pilot programs to continue to expand this program.
This past year, the environmental science faculty has been working with the Northwoods Stewardship Center to develop a curriculum that will place students at Northwoods for eight weeks over the summer. Students will earn nine credits while working on relevant problems and projects that support the operation and mission of Northwoods. We hope to implement this program in the summer of 2022.
Through a partnership with Catamount Arts, music and business industry students will be placed in a variety of venues in a tiered experience. In this, the students are first exposed to experiential work, then apply their knowledge in an apprentice role, and finally are placed in a meaningful internship to demonstrate mastery.
We continue to engage with new potential partners, with conversations in varying stages of development with 14 businesses. NVU has a signed memorandum of understanding with Kingdom County Productions to host its Semester Cinema on the Lyndon campus in 2022.
Semester Cinema, a biennial film intensive experiential learning program with a 15-year history, draws college students from across the country to take part in classes, workshops and ultimately production of a feature-length film. Students, including those from NVU, gain firsthand experience that launches them into this field.
We have hosted many meetings, including one with the presidents of three local banks to work toward growing an internship program that serves as a pipeline for careers in the banking industry, incorporating their needs and integrating our desired outcomes into the program. Similar conversations are underway with the Vermont Ski Areas Association, Kingdom Trails, Lyndon Institute, Big Heavy World, Green State BioChar, the Cambridge Community Center, and others.
It’s an exciting time for NVU and our entire region as we implement this innovative program to help students and businesses alike.