Instead of journeying to the typical vacation paradise, SIUC students will have the opportunity to travel during spring break for career oriented reasons.

The SIU Alumni Association is sponsoring an extern program, a chance to match undergraduates with friends and alumni of the University in a work-related atmosphere, Carrie Zahm, extern graduate assistant, said.

The students basically get to shadow’ the sponsors for a week, said Zahm. In addition, this helps the students build their resumes as well as helping to build relations with alumni and friends.

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Applications originally slated to be due Nov. 8, but JoLynn Whiston, assistant director at the SIU Alumni Association, said she has received about eight applications so far and has decided to extend the deadline to November 17.

Paul Mitchell, a senior in radio/television from Crystal Lake, said he has been a part of the program for two years.

Last year I went to Nashville, Tenn. to work in the public relations department of three television stations owned by the same company, Mitchell said. From that experience, I learned that I didn’t want to go into the public relations field, I’d rather go into television. It gave me an understanding of what it is like to be in the working world.

Mitchell said he received an application from that company after his visit because they thought he had graduated from SIUC.

Already I have received a job opportunity, before I’ve even graduated, he said. I would recommend it to anyone who can go.

The feeling of accomplishment from publishing a press release is worth more than a big paycheck.

Last year, 156 students participated in the program, with 140 applications coming in the last three days, Zahm said.

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The program will be held the week of Spring break, but applications are taken several months in advance because of the matching process within each college that participates, Zahm said.

We collect all the paperwork, then the dean, assistant dean, or whoever the college has chosen to work on this project will match the students with sponsors, she said.

The students are allowed to specify the geography and type of job environment they would like to observe in the application, Whiston said.

Just a couple years ago, we sent a few to Mexico, Whiston said. But we have sent students from coast to coast north to south. The students get a preference, so if they want to stay with family or friends in a particular area, they can.

The program was started by the College of BSusiness in 1984, and out of the 156 participants last year, eight were offered permanent positions with the company they externed, and 25 were asked to come back for another visit or were offered other internships, Zahm said.

We are working with eight colleges on campus, Zahm said. The only one who does not participate is the college of education because they have so many in-house internships they have to do. But we’re still hoping to get them.

Info box:extern program participants must:-have a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher;

-be a sophomore in an associate degree program, a junior with at least 65 credit hours, or a senior;

-be enrolled for both the fall and spring semesters at SIUC;

-complete the application process;

-meet with his/her college representative and attend a screening interview;

-upon completion of the program, attend the discussion forum/recognition ceremony.