The Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) and the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education (ARCHE) have launched the Georgia County Internship Program (GCIP) to connect qualified students with opportunities to work in local government.  ARCHE is comprised of 20 public and private colleges and universities in Georgia that work together to strengthen public support for higher education, help member institutions attract and retain the best talent, and promote economic and community development.

 

The goal of this internship program is not only to provide valuable work experience, but also to increase the civic awareness of participating students, thereby encouraging them to get engaged in their communities or even to pursue a career in local government. ACCG and ARCHE hope GCIP will attract participation from students with a broad diversity of majors to work in local government. 

 

Students who typically seek internships from local government often are working on a master's degree in public administration or have an interest in political science.  In addition to these students, GCIP can make other non-traditional connections such as placing nursing majors with county health departments, civil engineering majors with county public works departments, or information technology majors to assist with database needs or Web site design.  

 

The program is driven by a new Web site that allows counties to post internships and students to post resumes:  www.georgiacountyinternships.org.  ACCG is encouraging counties to go online now and post internship opportunities for Summer 2010.  Likewise, ARCHE is encouraging its 20 member colleges and universities to promote the program to their students.   

 

Counties and students must follow established guidelines in order to participate in this internship program.  Some of these guidelines are as follows:

 

• Interns must commit to work a minimum of 20 hours per week for an eight- to 12-week period.
• Students may earn academic credit for internships, but they must consult with their advisors or career centers to ascertain how many credit hours are available through their academic program.  
• Counties that would like to participate in this program that have not already been approved by ACCG may apply by completing the employer application that is available on the Web site.  Counties will receive information on how to post internship opportunities after their application is approved.
• In addition to completing an internship application, students must provide a resume, writing sample and two professional references.

 

For more information on GCHIP, contact ACCG Research and Policy Development Director Michele NeSmith at mnesmith@accg.org or call (404) 522-5022.