City Internships

The city of Troy is preparing a competitive internship program for Troy University students designed to span the breadth of municipal jobs and services.

“What we wanted to do was formalize the program here at the city as it relates to interns,” mayor Jason Reeves said.

“There’s never been any real rhyme or reason to it, so now we’re trying to lay the ground work to provide new opportunities to students and better fits for them and, in so doing, provide better services for the city.”

According to special projects coordinator Will Thompson, there is no date set for the program’s launch, but the planning process is well underway.

The internships, he said, would be to provide four primary benefits to students: work experience relevant to a student’s academic program, firsthand knowledge of the public sector work environment, access to the day-to-day processes of the municipal government, and potential academic credit needed for one’s field of study.

Thompson said that students would be carefully matched with city departments related to his or her field and that assignments could range from work within the Pike area transit system, to the Troy public library, the Troy police department and others.

“We hope it will branch out into all aspects of the city and will have a wide-ranging effect on not only the student body but the entire community,” Reeves said.

Thompson said that when the plans for the program have been finalized, city employees would distribute informational packets and applications to the university’s department of career services, the department of human resources at city hall and various department secretaries at the university.