BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Presentation of 2016 SCVWD Summer Internships for College Students and Skilled Trades.
*PREVIOUSLY LISTED AS ITEM 2.8.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Receive information and data on the 2016 Summer Internship Program for college students and skilled trades, and acknowledge commitment to the success of the program.
Body
SUMMARY:
Student interns have become a valued asset and integral part of the District’s workforce. Student internship programs not only help to train a future workforce and create a potential pipeline to support succession planning, but it also provides young people throughout the community the opportunity to explore the field of public service as a potential career pathway.
This summer, the District is hosting 48 student interns, the highest number of summer interns to date. The reason for the increase is because, in addition to the highly successful college internship program that is currently in its 4th year, the District has added two skills trade program this summer, one for water treatment plant operators and the other, in partnership with MetroED high school. The District is aware of the increasing rate of retirement each year and is constantly planning for ways to build a future pool of qualified candidates.
2016 Summer Internship Interns
College Program. This year’s college interns come from 17 different colleges and universities throughout 5 states. The schools include:
• UC San Diego
• CSU Stanislaus
• University of Washington
• Evergreen Valley
• University of Massachusetts
• University of Virginia
• UC Irvine
• University of Colorado
• Stanford
• St. Mary’s
• Santa Clara University
• San Jose State University
• UC Davis
• UC Santa Barbara
• Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
• Cal Poly Pomona
• Loyola Marymount University
The students are working on projects and assignments throughout various business units, including Records & Library Services, Accounting, Government Relations, IT, Water Resources Planning & Policy, Recycled & Purified Water, Dam Safety, Vegetation Management, Emergency & Security, and Utility Maintenance. Each student has a mentor responsible for helping them develop a learning plan for the summer and support any networking opportunities that will benefit their career development. At the end of the college program, the students are required to complete an evaluation plan and present a Capstone Project in front of their peers and mentors.
Water Treatment Operator Program. The District kicked off its Skills Trade internship program in the Treatment Plant Maintenance Unit. Internship opportunities were opened up to students who completed their first year of E-Tech Program at Los Medanos Community College. The students in this program gain valuable experience such as basic I&C calibration, repair, modification, and performance verification projects at the water treatment plants. Currently, there is one intern working at the Rinconada Water Treatment Plant.
High School Skills Trade. The District expanded its summer internship program to include high school students. In partnership with Metropolitan Education District (MetroED), the District placed 10 high school interns into various business areas throughout the General Services Division. The students work placements are aligned with the career pathway courses they are enrolled in at MetroED. These pathways include, HVAC, Automotive Services, Facilities Maintenance, and Business Support and Warehouse Services. Each of the students have a mentor and are gaining hands on practical experience that they can relate directly to the curriculum they have learned in school.
Diversity. Understanding the importance of diversity in our intern population, District staff made a concerted effort to do more rigorous outreach in underrepresented communities. The efforts are reflected in the significant changes from last year. This year, there is a greater distribution of racial diversity in the intern cohort as compared to last year. Additionally, in an agency that is over 60% male employees, the intern population has helped to bring more female representation to the potential future workforce. Below are the results of the race and gender analysis for this year.
Program Success. The success of the internship programs is evident through the increasing request for interns each summer by managers. Managers continue to be thoroughly impressed by each new cohort of interns on a yearly basis. For example, within days of starting their internships, IT interns successfully deploy critical upgrades to 31% of their targeted computers and received several commendations from staff for their prompt and excellent service. Managers have also expressed strong interests in retaining the summer interns for the school year because of how well they are working out in the unit.
Managers and Mentors are a large reason why the internship programs continue to succeed. Their commitment to making these internship opportunities a positive experience from providing the students with challenging and hands on projects, to supporting their learning and development throughout the program, has helped to make the internships at the District the success that it is today. Additionally, the support staff throughout the business areas, and particularly, in Human Resources has been instrumental in keeping the program organized and a positive experience for everyone involved.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Funds are budgeted in FY 2016-17 for this program.
CEQA:
The recommended action does not constitute a project under CEQA because it does not have a potential for resulting in direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
ATTACHMENTS:
None.
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER:
Manager
Jesús Nava, 408-630-2764