For immediate release
RICHMOND - The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) today announced that $535,000 in grant funding has been awarded from the Innovative Internship Fund and Program, also known as the Virginia Talent + Opportunity Partnership. The purpose of the program is to expand paid and credit-bearing student internships and other work-based learning opportunities in collaboration with Virginia employers.
Two grants were awarded for regional collaborative efforts in the Charlottesville and Hampton Roads areas. The University of Virginia and Old Dominion University each received $250,000 to connect employers to students and assure the readiness of employers, students and institutions of higher education to increase significantly the number of high-quality paid internships and other work-based learning opportunities in their regions.
- UVA and ODU have convened multiple partners, including public school systems, community colleges, other public and private institutions of higher education, chambers of commerce, economic development partnerships, industry associations and employers.
- The two universities will recruit new employer partners interested in hosting interns and support those companies through the process. Further, they will support students to gain work-ready skills prior to and during their work experiences.
UVA and ODU join Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University (in partnership with the ChamberRVA’s RVA NOW program) which received their regional collaborative grants last spring. SCHEV plans to award a total of nine grants across the Commonwealth by 2024.
The third grant was awarded to Marymount University in the amount of $25,000. This “vision grant” requires presidents of institutions to convene a task force to develop an experiential learning vision for students at their institutions, determine institutional priorities and design strategies to implement the highest priority initiatives needed to achieve the vision over time.
The Commonwealth’s Innovative Internship Fund and Program is funded by the General Assembly. SCHEV administers the program in partnership with the Virginia Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
