Students can work as part-time interns for aldermen and other city government officials with an option of gaining course credit through a new program from Northwestern’s Center for Civic Engagement.
Although the specifics of the program are still being developed, the center’s director and SESP Prof. Dan Lewis said students applied for the internships over the past few weeks, and the center will choose the interns in about a week. Parvathi Santhosh-Kumar, a fellow at the Center, said students from all grade levels and many majors have applied for the internships.
“We’re looking for students committed to public service and who would work well in a flexible, unstructured environment,” the Weinberg senior said. “You have to be an independent thinker and worker, and you have to be able to take initiative.”
Because serving as an alderman is a part-time position and City Council members do not have offices at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave., Santhosh-Kumar said the internships will be adaptable.
“Most of the work would take place in the community itself,” she said. “It would probably be in multiple places, given that they’d have to be attending meetings, doing research and giving to the community.”
The interns’ responsibilities are yet to be determined, Lewis said, but will depend on the individual needs of the City Council members.
“They’re not going to be working at the duplicating machine or being a receptionist or doing things that are not very good learning experiences,” he said. “It’ll depend on what the different council members will want them to do, but it’ll have to do with working with constituents, figuring out how to get legislation passed, those kinds of things.”
Ald. Donald Wilson (4th) said he was interested in having an intern to research issues, compile information and work with constituents.
“Hopefully they would be getting some hands-on opportunities to see how local government works and see the things that we as local governing officials are dealing with,” Wilson said. “Sitting and looking at a book doesn’t give you a feel for the way things work.”
Through the Chicago Field Studies program, however, interns have the option to take a course to supplement their work with City Council. Lewis said the coursework is still being developed but will combine practical experience with research and scholarly work.
Interns under the program will not begin working until Winter Quarter, but some NU students have already interned with the City Council.
Ald. Coleen Burrus (9th) hired Weinberg junior Christopher Lee as an intern independently of the program to work this fall. Lee works eight to 10 hours a week maintaining the 9th ward’s Web site and newsletter and contacting constituents about problems they may have.
“It definitely gives me a better idea of how government runs,” Lee said. “The fact that I’m there – I get to see the city and interact with constituents – is pretty rewarding.”Lewis said the idea for the internship program began with Leadership Evanston, a community program that offers leadership training.
“They thought an internship program would be a good learning experience for students and help out City Council because they don’t have regular staff,” Lewis said. “It’s actually a perfect example of the kind of collaboration we want to have between the community and the University.”
Wilson said he hopes the internship program will improve town-gown relations, one of the original goals of Leadership Evanston’s idea for the program.
“These are people who are community-minded and community-oriented possibly bringing back their experience to fellow students,” Wilson said. “Hopefully it will foster a better relationship.”
Santhosh-Kumar said City Council members seemed excited about involving NU students through the program – what she called “a mutually beneficial relationship.”
“We as NU students have much to offer to the community, and the community has much to offer to us,” she said. “If we don’t provide opportunities to work with each other, we won’t get anywhere.”
