The tenth time’s a charm!
Indiana INTERNnet began the tradition of celebrating internship excellence nearly a decade ago by launching the annual IMPACT Awards program.
Today, the IMPACT Awards are presented at an annual luncheon honoring Interns of the Year (high school, college and non-traditional categories), Employers of the Year (for-profit and not-for-profit categories) and a Career Development Professional of the Year. Indiana INTERNnet will honor its tenth group of award nominees and winners on Feb. 3, 2016. Co-founder and CMO Angie Hicks of Angie’s List will be the keynote speaker.
Honorees are nominated by the public, and winners are chosen by a panel of impartial judges. Click here to submit your nomination(s) in any or all of the categories by October 23.
2015 IMPACT Award nominees and winners
The inaugural group of honorees set the standard for years of inspiring stories of accomplishments by – and on behalf of – interns. Here is a sampling of the achievements by Hoosier colleges/universities, interns and employers:
2012: In more than 20 years at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Susan Gresham has proven to be a “high-energy, positive-thinking, driven and motivated leader.” As director of the Career Development Center, she leads a staff that thrives on student success. Among the initiatives she’s spearheaded:
- A learning contract completed by both the student and intern employer
- Site visits to every internship location within the state with site supervisors, through an evaluation, assigning a letter grade that accounts for 40% of the intern’s grade
- Actively recruiting employers to campus for class presentations, panel discussions and special events
- Establishment of an orientation program, providing interns with a name badge, business cards and leather portfolio to ease their transition into the business world
2013: One measuring stick of internship success is whether or not the opportunity leads to permanent employment. After serving as the 2012 governor’s public service summer intern, Casey Spivey began working as a full-time benefits specialist at the Indiana State Personnel Department (SPD). Today, she is the facility human resources director.
Spivey made an impact by assisting in the development of sourcing and recruitment plans for “hard-to-fill” positions. One organization she aided was the Hoosier Youth ChalleNGe Academy (HYCA), which she equipped with a career fair plan – including advertising contacts, a detailed timeline, session speakers, newspaper ads and flyers.
“Casey basically went through a 12-week job interview with our organization with outstanding results,” states Nicole Russell, division director of talent acquisition for the Indiana SPD. “To go from student to governor’s intern to state employee is a feat to be acknowledged.”
2015: “2014 has been a year of excellence for our internship program,” says Valerie Wilson, chief of staff, Baldwin & Lyons (B+L). It’s easy to see why.
- 96% of interns reported their job responsibilities were challenging but attainable.
- 63% of interns with at least junior standing were converted to either full-time or part-time employment or another internship.
- 100% of interns expressed interest in working for B+L upon graduation.
The employer-intern connection doesn’t end with the internship at B+L. Last fall, employees assembled care packages with encouraging notes to send their former interns during final exams. Staff also makes an effort to visit when they are on college campuses for career fairs.
View the list of past winners.
