Colorado Mesa University and The City of Grand Junction are partnering together for an internship pilot program. 

Over a year ago, this idea began when the Grand Junction City Manager, Greg Caton, proposed that there be paid internships across each and every department of the city government. The idea was to get the pilot program started in 2018, where he hopes to be able to fully fund 11 internships that would be included in their 2019 budget year.

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“The City Manager’s idea for an internship program is the latest example of the strong symbiotic relationship between CMU and the City of Grand Junction,” said CMU Vice President of Intergovernmental & Community Affairs Derek Wagner.

“When Caton approached us with the idea, CMU Career Services snapped in to action and found multiple students across targeted fields of study to apply for these positions.”  

Wagner put the City of Grand Junction Human Resources in touch with CMU’s Career Services to aid in creating the job descriptions for these internships. This had to be done because each internship position is a little different and the requirements for each position needed to be included in the job description.

Career Services then worked with each of the academic departments that had students that would qualify for the internships. They reached out to relevant departments as well as posting on Handshake to allow students who are interested in these positions the opportunity to apply.

With the help of Career Services, every internship that has been posted has been responded to by interested students. From there, the City of Grand Junction took over.

“These paid internships will provide our students valuable experience within their field of study while deepening our relationship with the City of Grand Junction,” Wagner said.  “Kudos to the City Manager and the CMU Career Services Office for taking an idea and quickly turning it in to something meaningful for our students and community.”