Internships
Students in all majors are encouraged to complete internships that help them learn how academic work dovetails with the real world of work. Students may pursue credit-based internships through their majors and a second internship related to their 
career interests through the Career Center. Credit-based internships typically are accompanied by a departmental course that allows students to connect their academic curriculum to the applied experience. Students can meet with their department faculty internship liaison or a Career Center counselor to discuss the internship search process. Both credit and non-credit internships are listed online at www.unca.edu/career.
Internships also can provide that all-important foot in the door for employment. The Management Department Internship Program has had a number of such success stories, namely John Hepler ’93, who parlayed his internship into a full-time job with NEO Corp., an environmental firm in Western North Carolina. Now he’s vice president of the company. Graduates also have secured full-time employment with area agencies through their research and internship studies with the National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center at UNC Asheville. Internships and research opportunities available through NEMAC offer students an opportunity to gain research experience that allows them to test the research/graduate school waters, provide an in-depth education beyond the classroom, earn a salary, and provide contacts with collaborators outside the university who might offer future employment and/or graduate school opportunities.
Many of the 30-plus majors at UNC Asheville require an internship for graduation. Most internships carry course credit, placing students in small businesses, nonprofit organizations, major corporations, retail stores, banks, media outlets such as newspapers and TV stations, and other work-world situations nearby and in other states. For the politically inclined, the UNC in Washington internship program sends selected juniors and seniors to the nation’s capital to work in a variety of settings, from Capitol Hill to museums and federal agencies.
Because experiential learning is important to the liberal arts mission of UNC Asheville, our faculty personally assist students in obtaining meaningful internships that match their interests. Internships are wide-ranging and creative, and our faculty have connections in unusual places.
More Information
Eileen Buecher, Career Center Director
259 Highsmith Union, CPO #1240
One University Heights
Asheville, NC 28804-8501
828.251.6515
Fax: 828.251.6871
career@unca.edu
David Mitchell, Management Internship Program Director
215 Owen Hall, CPO #1850
One University Heights
Asheville, NC 28804-8507
828.251.6853