According to the 2023 Student Voice Survey in Winter 2023, about 10 in 10 college students believe that the specific skills required to develop their careers are one of the most important outcomes in their academic experience. Internal Advanced ED and the pulse of the university. However, 22% of all respondents said they had never participated in experiential learning or internship.
Champlain College in Vermont, in 2023, partnered with Hula, a local partner campus and business incubator, to build a talent pipeline for local businesses and expose students to new, perhaps unfamiliar career opportunities.
Over the past two years, the partnership has provided real-life case studies and client-factors with work, and provides employers with greater interaction with young talents.
What to need: “One of the obvious things in Vermont is that we need young talent,” said Angelika Koukoulas, project manager for innovation hubs at Champlain.
According to a 2022 data analysis, Vermont experienced the worst brain loss in the country, losing 57.5% of college graduates, many of whom moved to Massachusetts or New York.
Koukoulas’ role is to help students identify Vermont’s work experience and build relationships with employers to fill loopholes in their workforce.
“They need more hands, big ideas, students who are excited about their work and willing to study hard,” Kukulas said.
There are also national internship opportunities, which are related to mismatch between employer needs and student interests. Partnerships are fully resolved by weighing the interests of all stakeholders.
How it works: The hula hoop is about a mile from Champlain College, just on the way to the Miller Center campus of the college.
The collaboration space supports 60 member companies and up to 600 people working together. These businesses belong to a variety of industries, including green technology and marketing, as well as traditional business or financial roles.
Most collaborations belong to two camps: companies that offer programs for peak-like courses in experiential learning or create internships for students.
Ask questions can be direct from faculty members who wish to modify the course, or provide students with skills or a reality of helping with a specific need and want young and talented employers. Often, startups are always looking for student support for social media or blogging activities, but also require general business management or accounting support, Koukoulas said.
For the internship, Koukoulas will serve as a recruiter for company partners, assisting them in creating job descriptions and posting them on handshakes, and encouraging her to think that students are well suited to apply and increase the number of applicants for business partners.
“It expands their candidate pool and hopes to get more student opportunities that they didn’t even expect,” Koukoulas said.
All projects are pro-core, so the company invested zero dollars to recruit a job, but almost all internships were paid.
What are the differences: Hula is both a business partner, hiring interns and supporting course programs, and an incubator for small businesses in Vermont.
People working on Hula Dance campus rotate, which means that students or students can work with various types of industry types. The climate of office buildings also means that businesses are innovative and creative, making partnerships more natural.
Koukoulas has an office in Hula, which means she can directly participate in public spaces or build channels to solicit employer partnerships.
Vermont also has a very relationship culture, and Koukoulas must be the newest resident of the Green Mountain State, whether it is a relationship with teachers, who have taught courses for a long time and may hesitate to make changes, or make changes with business leaders, or with business leaders who think their startups may be their children and may be uncomfortable getting students to participate in student activities.
The puzzle has an educational work that can help teachers determine the requirements of their projects and help employers create meaningful internships for learners. Koukoulas hosts a seminar on the 101 hula world internships to set internship expectations and provide guidance for best practices, such as providing tutors for students. She also offers regular lunches to interns working in the Hulajie office and supports them as needed.
Influence: Since the partnership was established in the summer of 2023, 90 students have worked on a hula hoop-based program in one course and 18 students have participated in internships.
The partnership is in its early stages, so Champlain has no data on how students can turn startups into long-term career development, but exposure to new careers and experiential learning is two benefits Koukoulas is eager to see.
“I can’t wait to see if it works; I can’t wait to see the fruits of this labor in the next few years,” Kukuras said.
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