September 01, 2015

Indiana University student Justin Johnston attends The Harrisburg Internship Semester

Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu

Harrisburg – Justin Johnston of Curwensville is working for the Center for Rural Pennsylvania as part of a 15-week internship sponsored by Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education.

Johnston is a senior criminology major and homeland security minor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He is one of 14 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.

Johnston, the son of Dale and Valerie Johnston, is a 2008 graduate of Curwensville Area 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 600 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.

Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, with about 110,000 degree-seeking students and thousands more who are enrolled in certificate and other career-development programs. About 90 percent of the students who attend the 14 State System universities are Pennsylvania residents, and about 80 percent will remain in the state after graduation. Collectively, the universities that comprise the State System offer more than 2,300 degree and certificate programs in more than 530 academic areas. Nearly 520,000 State System university alumni live in Pennsylvania.

The State System 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 operate 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.