Aided by a $125,000 grant announced Tuesday by the Truist Bank foundation, minority engineering and computer science students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will be able to get more paid internships at local small businesses and startup companies to help both their own careers and the businesses where they will work.
The UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science, which already places nearly 300 students in internship programs at Chattanooga-area businesses every year, is seeking to offer more of its computer and engineering interns to small businesses that would benefit from such additional help but would not otherwise be able to pay all of the internship costs. By splitting the paid internship costs with the new grant-funded assistance program and targeting such aid to minority students, UTC hopes to help more of its students gain real-world experience and local businesses get needed help while diversifying the skilled labor pool in the market.
"This initiative will prioritize small business development and hands-on learning opportunities for students by providing funding for these internships," UTC Chancellor Steve Angle said during an announcement Tuesday of the new program. "Our partnership with Truist solves one of our long-standing problems for many students and businesses in our region. This will help the lives of our students and it will help drive local businesses as they try to attract top talent."
The grant is designed to immediately fund five new internships for area small businesses next year while also creating the seed capital for what university officials hope will be an endowment fund to sustain the growing internship program in the future.
"Last year, 67% of our students that sought internships got such an experience, and this program will increase these valuable opportunities for real-life learning and experiences for our students," said Daniel Pack, dean of the roughly 1,600-student College of Engineering and Computer Science at UTC.
Contributed photo by Angela Foster / Chancellor Steve Angle speaks Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2021, in the Engineering and Computer Science building during a celebration of a gift from Truist in support of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Engineering and Computer Science's internship program.Jim Vaughn, market president for Truist Bank (formerly SunTrust) in Chattanooga, is a former chairman of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and member of the advisory board to the UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science who helped convince the bank foundation to fund the new grant.
"The major focus for this grant to UTC is workforce development, which is much needed in our area," Vaughn said. "This supports both the students and the small businesses that may not have the capital to pay for an internship and we hope it will continue our support for diversity, equity and inclusion in our market."
Other paid internship programs at UTC require the employer to pay all expenses of the program, but the Truist grant should help expand the number and type of companies offering and benefiting from the UTC interns, who are typically in their junior or senior years in computer science or engineering.
The candidates identified for the internships will primarily be minority students and many of the small and startup businesses will gain valuable assistance as they grow through the engineering or computer programming interns, Pack said.
"This is a win for student success, a win for business development and a win for promoting diversity," said Joe Ferguson, chair of the business advisory board to UTC's engineering school. "When I think back on my career with many organizations, the interns that we had excelled when they were hired because they were ready to take their spot and run with their new jobs."
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340