The Central State Journalism and Digital Media program is again requiring students to complete their internships off campus, and some students are unhappy.
Senior Katie Ravenal said that many students don’t have transportation to get to an off campus employer. “It is a little frustrating,” she said.
The Journalism program has long required students to complete an internship before graduation. The program has at times allowed students to intern with Central State offices, such as public relations, WCSU radio, and the sports information office. However, program faculty decided this year to again require students to intern off campus.
“We feel that students get a different experience going off campus, and we want them to go outside their comfort zone,” Associate Professor Mike Gormley said. Gormley said that students will also stand a better chance of landing a job after the internship if they intern for an established off campus organization.
“It is not that big of a deal to me, because I have my own transportation,” senior Nike Seay said.
Gormley said that there are many local organizations, which have hosted Central State students including the Xenia Gazette, XACT Community Theatre, the National Afro American Museum and Culture Center, the Chamber of Commerce, and more. He said that student should consider completing their internships over the summer if they do not have transportation while in school.
Ravenal said the off campus rule might expand students’ career options, but it might also be an obstacle that prevents some students from graduating. Seay believes that most students will find a way to fulfill the internship requirement. “At the end of the day, people are going to do it, because it is a requirement to graduate,” Seay said.
The internship rule is one of several changes program faculty members have made to make the program more professional. The program also adopted an “on time” policy this year, requiring students to be on time for class or to be marked absent. The program had previously allowed students five minutes grace to arrive for class.