Communication and PR Students Gain Valuable Experience Through Internships

Many of you may remember learning about professional development and then practicing it in the Careers in Communication course taught by Prof. Lisa Newman. Or working as an intern and earning credit through the internship course also taught by Prof. Newman. The faculty, students and sometimes the courses change, but the dedication to experiential learning has not.

This semester Communication and Public Relations students had the opportunity to meet with a variety of exciting internship placement opportunities at our Fall Comm and PR Internship Fair. The fair included over 30 organizations and took place in 400 TUC on Tues. Oct. 4 with special guest The Bearcat!

As we all know, UC encourages experiential learning as the co-op program is one of the largest in the country. Communication students have the option to enter into a co-op track for their degree. Students not in the co-op track are highly encouraged to intern. Students in the PR program are required to intern as part of their curriculum.

Interns still earn academic credit while working by enrolling in the internship course. And they are well-prepared for their intern experience in a required and specific Comm and PR Professional Development course that helps them learn resume and interview skills.

The Comm and PR students work in a variety of placements in the region, as well as around the globe. This semester the exciting list of opportunities included the Scripps Spelling Bee, the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, the Anthony Munoz Foundation, and Seacrest Studios at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center among others.

Students are able to learn about working and business environments as well as practice skills they have learned in the classroom. Social media management and assistance, media relations, blog writing, analytics, graphics, and web content are just a few of the duties the students perform at the various positions.

Internship Director, Dr. Maribeth Metzler is always looking for new placements. She is hard at work gathering placements for the Spring Internship Fair in early March. If you are interested in participating in the fair or if you have a job opening email Dr. Metzler metzlems@ucmail.uc.edu.