IUSA offers internship program to freshmen interested in politics

Last year, the IU Student Association implemented an internship program for freshmen in order to help them become better acquainted with campus and student involvement.\nThis year, IUSA is once again offering its freshman \ninternship program. \n“This year we are increasing our focus on getting the opinions of groups on campus,” said K.J. McConnell, chief of operations \nfor IUSA. \nHe said the program is a learning opportunity for freshmen since they’re able to see how IUSA operates and work with executives. \nThe interns’ main responsibility will be to attend different group meetings to allow organizations to communicate concerns they \nmay have. \nThe interns will then report back to their executives the concerns raised in the meetings they attended, McConnell said. \n“This is a way to get the different groups on campus to communicate more with IUSA,” McConnell said. \nThis program is meant to eventually increase the interns’ responsibility within their respective groups, especially if the interns stumble upon issues they feel strongly about, McConnell said. \nAs a result, the interns could then start an initiative, he said. The internship program provides students with the chance to become acclimated to IUSA and learn what the organization is all about. \nThe purpose of IUSA is to represent student interests on campus, McConnell said. \nCurrently, IUSA has seven executives, so reaching out to all clubs, groups and residential programs can be difficult, he said. \n“This (system) is a way to expand our reach to understanding what different groups’ concerns are,” McConnell said. \nStudents who are interested in the internship program can pick up an application in the IUSA office, located on the third floor of the Indiana Memorial Union Student Activities Tower. \nAll IU freshmen are welcome to apply, he said. The application deadline is 4 p.m. Friday.