The Career Center at Stony Brook University helps students land internships with very successful companies. Stony Brook student, Ashley Cruz, completed her internship in the Department of Philanthropy at Merrill Lynch through the Career Center’s Arts and Humanities Internship Program. Cruz was instantly offered a part-time job at the company. But why aren’t other students jumping at the chance of an internship through SBU, especially if they could receive a scholarship?
The Stony Brook Career Center has an Arts and Humanities Internship Program that is in its second year. Claudia Demonte, the coordinator of the Arts and Humanities Internship, said the Career Center has a lot more internships than students right now. They have internships at Newsday, CBS Sports, Reader’s Digest, Long Island Radio, Def Jam Recording, Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, and many more.
‘We are looking for students to fill these internships,’ DeMonte said.
The Career Center has four $500 scholarships for students who receive unpaid internships. The director chooses which students needs them the most. Marianna Savoca, the director of the Career Center, said that these scholarships are donations from individuals who believe in helping students get internships.
‘We want to give these scholarships away to students as soon as possible, but students aren’t applying themselves to these internships,’ Savoca said.
Savoca said one problem the Career Center faces is not knowing how many students receive Arts and Humanities internships from companies. She explained that when some students receive internships, they don’t let the Career Center know about it. Thus, the Career Center cannot keep track of how many students received internships through the program.
Students can register with the Career Center to get important information about internships in several ways: through the Career Center website, through facebook.com, or through the fliers dispersed throughout the dorms on campus. After students register, they are added to a listserv, which is a free newsletter service provided by the Career Center that is sent out by e-mail weekly. This listserv contains a list of opportunities within theatre, museums, music, publishing, media and entertainment.
To register for the Arts and Humanities listserv, students and faculty can also simply send an e-mail including their full name to Ashley Cruz at [email protected], or Antony Lin at [email protected].
Antony Lin, the communications assistant at the Career Center, is in charge of making and sending these internships out to students. Lin explained that he is in the process of setting up interviews with the chairman of the different departments at SBU to see whether they can help the Career Center attract more students.
‘We’re hoping the departments are going to help us,’ Cruz said. ‘We’re really counting on them.’
