| Undergraduate Intern Advisors | ||
|---|---|---|
Chelsea Hodson | Malcolm Gibson | Allison Strom |
Desiree Polson | Ivan Lizarraga | Corrie Hannah |
In an ongoing effort to continue to enhance and improve our UA/NASA Space Grant Undergraduate Research Internship Program, we're trying something new in 2008! From faculty nominations, we have selected a group of past Interns to continue to work with our program in the role of a Student Advisory Committee. Welcome and congratulations to Chelsea Hodson, Malcolm Gibson, Allison Strom, Desiree Polson, Ivan Lizarraga and Corrie Hannah--members of the pilot Space Grant Intern Advisors group!
The idea of appointing student advisors is a new one for the UA/NASA Space Grant Program, modeled after a successful effort at UC Berkeley. In previous years, we have been able to support Space Grant Interns for one year maximum. Now, we have taken nominations for students who have completed year-long internships and who are seen to possess leadership qualities, to help launch a pilot program to involve a select group of students in administering the UA Space Grant Undergraduate Research Internship Program (along with continuing their Internship program research).
The plan is to assign each student steering committee member a subset of the 2008 Space Grant Interns/Mentors, and ask them to build relationships and to maintain contact, with a goal of helping to insure that internships are proceeding well for all parties--that nobody falls through the cracks and reports at the end of the program year that the internship experience was a disappointment. The Intern Advisors will also help define and set up lunch talks, learning/networking opportunities, and social events for the new interns and mentors.
We're excited! We've got a stellar group of students selected to take place in this pilot program, a terrific group of new interns and mentors, and every expectation that 2008 will be a GREAT program year for all participants!