College sophomore Natalia Rimolo's summer internship search lasted all of one week.
Rimolo, a political science major, turned to the recently launched Washington Internship Program, which landed her a position under the press secretary of Rep. Xavier Bacerra (D-Calif.) this summer.
The program was officially launched this week as a joint initiative between the College of Arts and Sciences and Penn's Fels Institute of Government. The program pairs each interested student with a career counselor who helps find the student internships in the Washington area.
Rimolo heard about the program from a professor and submitted her application when she returned from winter break. Within a week, Deirdre Martinez, the program coordinator and a Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate School of Education, was able find Rimolo the internship.
Although Martinez has no exact figures on the number of internships the program will provide for this summer, she said that its goal is to set up at least 25 undergraduates with work in the capital.
According to College Dean Dennis DeTurck, the program sprung from a realization that "there is something missing in the sense of having adequate networking and mentoring programs for students from the arts and science backgrounds."
The program is an expansion of the Penn-in-Washington Program -- a lecture series for students in the area over the summer -- and the Washington Semester Program, a study abroad-style semester-long program.
While the program is not limited to College students, DeTurck said he wanted his own school's job placement programs to be able to compete with those of Penn's other schools.
He added that the other three undergraduate schools -- Wharton and the schools of Nursing and Engineering -- are "devoted to a much narrower internship terrain and career track."
When it comes to College students, however, "the need for this kind of mentoring is greater ... because of their diverse interests and careers."
"Wharton provides substantial opportunities for its students. ... I want to take a page out of their book," DeTurck said, adding that he asked Wharton School faculty for help in developing the program.
DeTurck said Martinez is especially well-suited to help reach that goal.
She "is very well connected in D.C. She was very helpful and sat with me to discuss my preferences and interests," Rimolo said.
Martinez "essentially plays a matchmaker," said Don Kettl, director of the Fels Institute. Martinez, who worked on Capitol Hill before coming to Penn, uses connections to University alumni to try to find internship opportunities for students.
According to Kettl, students who use the program do not need to take international relations or political science courses. Students with science- or math-related backgrounds can also find interesting experiences in Washington.
In the long term, DeTurck said that he wants to expand Penn's role in Washington.
"We want to go beyond what we have -- an academic presence -- and create a policy presence," said DeTurck. "Penn is also probably one of the closest major research universities to Washington. ... We should be taking advantage of that."
Though the program is still in its pilot stage, DeTurck says he will look into creating similar programs in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Boston and even Philadelphia.
"Most of our time and energy is culminated in our relationships with our alumni who are interested in Penn students," Kettl said. "With thousands of Penn alumni in D.C., we are seeing a lot of interest in this program."
Several Penn students were happy to learn about the program.
"I would say it sounds like a great opportunity. ... It shows good initiative on Penn's part, especially in an area like D.C., where internships are heavily concentrated," College and Wharton sophomore Joyce Lin said. Though she is also looking at opportunities elsewhere, Lin, who comes from Maryland, said she will consider applying to this program as an "additional resource, if I want something closer to home."
A capital idea - Joint program between Fels Institute and the College of Arts and Sciences offers internship advice for students - College officials want to put their school's internship program on par with those at Wharton, Engineering, Nursing - Leaders hope to place at least 25 College students in internship programs by the end of the semester
