Cadet Tiziana Ortega, a supply chain management major, is one of eight cadets and students who interned at various organizations over the summer and fall, thanks to a $30,000 grant to improve internship experiences from Boeing in South Carolina.
According to The Citadel Career Center, the grant went a long way to support student projects and the Citadel STEM project. Ortega serves as the president of The Citadel’s Supply Chain Management and Port Club, which also received part of the grant money.
“I have tremendous gratitude to Boeing for their interest and committed investment as a community partner in our Citadel student talent,” said Susan Pope, internship coordinator for the Career Center, in a statement. “This initiative demonstrates effectiveness through the return on their investment in our local workforce and beyond. Our students will be better prepared with the readiness skills necessary to enter, contribute and be successful in their fields through professional development opportunities.”
Recently, the Career Center held a Boeing Grant Award Recognition Appreciation luncheon to show their gratitude for Boeing’s investment as well as to highlight results from each internship.
At the event, each individual shared what they learned, the skills they developed, and the overall experience they had. A representative from each site also spoke about how their intern performed, what they contributed, the assigned projects, and the difference between an intern from The Citadel versus past interns from other colleges.
Based on the grant’s stipulations, students were to benefit from learning transferable skills which apply to business and engineering. Internship sites included local engineering companies, local financial investment companies, police departments, and more.
A veteran undergraduate student majoring in electrical engineering, Erika Hernandez’s internship was with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering on campus. But it still pushed Hernandez out of her comfort zone through new learning experiences and networking.
Page Tisdale, director of The Citadel Career Center said they “were excited to apply for and receive this investment from Boeing. We value their commitment to life-long learning. The impact of $30,000 was significant. It reached our cadets, evening undergraduate, and veteran students. Relieving some of the students’ financial burdens allowed them to focus on the goal — gaining real, transferable skills. This supports strong graduation outcomes for The Citadel and it has significant and real implications for us retaining a strong workforce in Charleston and the state.”
Part of the grant also went towards The Citadel STEM Project, run by English professor Alyson Eggleston, Ph.D.. This project is a hands-on technical communication project for STEM majors, in partnership with iFixit, a repair guide website for consumer electronics.
Focused on user experience, students created component replacement technical guides for an international audience. Two student teams were evaluated by iFixit for meeting standards. The Citadel’s Supply Chain Management and Port Club received part of the grant money as well and used the funds to improve the overall experience for cadets and allowed a few of the members to attend networking events like The State of The Port Luncheon and World Affairs Council Luncheon.
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