September 02, 2014

California University student Evan Riccardo attends The Harrisburg Internship Semester

Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu

Harrisburg – Evan Riccardo of Carlisle is working for the Center for Rural Pennsylvania as part of a 15-week internship sponsored by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

Riccardo is a senior political science major at California University of Pennsylvania. He is one of 12 students participating in The Harrisburg Internship Semester (THIS) program, which provides students the opportunity to work in all areas of state government while earning a full semester’s worth of credits. THIS invites students from each of the State System universities to participate.
Riccardo, the son of Jim and Karen Riccardo, is a 2011 graduate of Cumberland Valley High School. He and the other students participating in the program will attend several academic seminars during their fall semester internship. Each of the students also will complete an individualized research project as part of the program’s requirements.
More than 500 students from the State System universities have participated in THIS since the program began in 1989, each gaining valuable insight into the workings of state government at the policy-making level. Interns have worked with dozens of state agencies, as well as in the offices of the governor, the speaker of the House of Representatives and the attorney general.
State System students interested in participating in THIS in a future semester may obtain information on the program by contacting their individual campus coordinator or their university’s cooperative or internship office, or by calling the Dixon University Center at (717) 720-4089. More information on the program also is available at: www.passhe.edu/this.
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, with about 112,000 students. The 14 State System universities offer degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study.
The universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The universities also operates branch campuses in Oil City (Clarion), Freeport and Punxsutawney (IUP) and Clearfield (Lock Haven), and offer classes and programs at several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and in Center City in Philadelphia.