An Extension of the Classroom

Career Center’s New Internship Program Matches Students with Paid Internships in their Field

By UNC Asheville

May 24^th, 2024

When a student — just finished college, new degree in hand — is applying for jobs, what is the most important thing to feature on their resumes? A great internship experience can make all the difference.

The Career Center’s new Internship Program, the first of its kind at UNC Asheville, seeks to remove the barriers between students and employers by matching them with meaningful, paid internships that align with their career interests.

“The goal of UNC Asheville’s first Internship Program is to make internships more accessible and facilitate connections between employers and students,” said Grace Champion, internship program manager.

“Research shows that students who do internships are generally more satisfied in their careers, find jobs faster due to connections, and receive higher starting pay. Internships are clearly advantageous for students, but they have also been historically challenging to obtain. That’s where we come in.”

Margaret Priest, collections intern at Black Mountain College Museum + Art Center, photographs an archival art piece. Her internship was funded through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Internships, especially one in the student’s intended career, demonstrate a level of engagement, experience, and understanding of the field outside of the classroom — that can put them a cut above the rest.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers view an internship as the deciding factor among two otherwise equally qualified candidates.

An internship through the Internship Program is more than just a job. It is an extension of the classroom — an opportunity to put the knowledge gained in classes into action, gain workplace experience, and create connections that prepare students for life after college.

In its first year, the internship program had 49 internship matches and 56 unique employers in the pool of internship sites, including places like the American Chestnut Foundation, System Logistics, Northwestern Mutual, Pisgah Conservancy, WFAE 90.7, City of Asheville, and MountainTrue.

Personalized Career Preparation

Out of the curated list of employers, students are guided in applying to locations that best fit their interests. Once employed, they can work with their supervisors to learn skills most applicable to their career goals.

Sarah Harney, a senior environmental studies major, spent a semester as the field technician intern for Environmental Quality Institute (EQI), learning the ins and outs of stream quality monitoring for a nonprofit organization. She collected, identified, and quantified aquatic insects that act as indicators of stream health and pollution levels.

“It gives you skills and a foot in the door in whatever career you want to do. I'm really lucky that I landed in an internship that aligns with what I want to do after I graduate,” Harney said.

“EQI has given me the opportunity to have my first career in science. Once I'm out in the stream, I feel like I belong there.”

Sarah Harney, field technician intern at Environmental Quality Institute, identifies an aquatic insect.

John Jamison, senior new media major and studio art minor, was a media production intern for Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center.

“My supervisor Kira helped me integrate my skills into the mission of the Black Mountain College Museum. They gave me the freedom to choose a path to work here on site,” Jamison said. “I could have done a lot of things, but I chose the video marketing side and it turned into helping with digital marketing.”

Margaret Priest, a senior art history major, interned at the same location, but was able to do a completely different role as a collections intern, which is closer to her target career of art conservation. Her internship was funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. She said the hands-on nature of the experience — actually getting to handle art and artifacts from the museum’s archival vault — gave her technical skills that will be transferable to future roles.

“Picking up a piece of art was a skill I never had that is super important to museum work. Wrapping things, keeping them stored in the vault is a big deal. Those technical art handling skills are things I'm really grateful to have the opportunity to learn,” Priest said. “And Black Mountain College is a heavy hitting name to have on my resume that I think will really help me in the future.”

John Jamison, media production intern at Black Mountain College Museum + Art Center, edits a promotional video for the annual Rehappening event.

Gaining Confidence as Professionals

The Internship Program also puts an emphasis on building students' social and cultural capital — networking, writing cover letters, building a resume and learning insider information about their field.

“Everyone has been so helpful in sharing what might seem like basic things you wouldn't talk about if it were just a regular job,” Priest said. “Like working on developing a network and making connections outside the institution, developing a resume, industry standards, things that I can take with me past this job.”

Students and their supervisors are given guided discussion topics throughout their placement to encourage sharing insights on topics like unwritten rules, typical expectations in the industry, and more. This unique process helps facilitate the interns transition into professionals.

“You feel confident once you do the internship. I have some professional work experience and perception of how it works,” Jamison said.

“Having this internship has given me more to add to my portfolio and the quality of the stuff I've been putting out [at Black Mountain College Museum] has been better.”

Margaret Priest handles archival documents from the vault at Black Mountain College Museum + Art Center.

Regardless of major, experience level, or career goals, the staff of the Intern Program and Career Center support students every step of the way. Maura Melear, senior biology major and chemistry minor who interned at EQI as a lab technician, said she received assistance throughout the entire process.

“I had absolutely no idea where to begin before I started with the program. Grace Champion has been really great at helping in narrowing a list of internship sites to go to and she helped provide resources for interviews,” Melear said.

“Really helped the entire process from ‘I have no idea what I'm doing’ all the way to ‘I now have an internship that I've been doing the entire semester and it's going great.’”

Maura Melear, lab technician intern at Environmental Quality Institute, tests stream samples for indicators of stream health and pollution.

Button Label

Q&A: HOW 3 UNCA STUDENTS’ FIELDWORK IS ADVANCING THE SCIENCES & SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES IN WESTERN NC

February 23^rd, 2026

Read

Finding Her Place in the Big Cheese

How UNC Asheville helped Shannon Herlihy transform a passion for food systems, health, and justice into a career supporting small-scale cheesemakers around the world

Read