September 01, 2016
Mansfield University student Deborah Jennings attends The Harrisburg Internship Semester
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
Harrisburg – Deborah Jennings of Canton is working for the state Department of Environmental
Protection as part of a 15-week internship sponsored by Pennsylvania’s State System
of Higher Education.
Jennings is a junior at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, where she is majoring
in political science major and minoring in economics. She 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 14 State System universities
to participate.
Jennings is the daughter of Robert and Mary Jennings and a 2014 graduate of Canton
Jr./Sr. High School. She and the other students participating in the program also
will attend several academic seminars during their fall semester internship. Each
of the students 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 more than 100,000 degree-seeking students and
thousands more who are enrolled in certificate and other career-development programs.
Collectively, the 14 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.