Nichols, who has been in her current position for the past year and worked for the University for four years before that, prints a biweekly newsletter with PUPA-oriented internships, jobs, fellowships and grants. She picks out internships from University Career Services updates but also sends students to the Carolina Connection database. Students also can get an internship manual or browse a database of internships held by other PUPA students. If massages during exam time, local store discounts, money management seminars, free copies of the Carolina Alumni Review and shag dance workshops aren't enough of an enticement to check out the GAA's Student Membership program, career-minded UNC students certainly will appreciate the Extern Program. Students submit an application with their career and geographic interests, which is then run through a database.
Students are responsible for contacting alumni once a match has been made.
Shadowing can last anywhere from two hours to two days. About 65 to 70 percent of students get matched. Almost 50 students were matched last spring through the Extern Program, which began in the early 1990s and has more than 5,000 alumni advisers. Many students consider summer a prime time for making money. According to an e-mail survey sent by University Career Services to more than 3,000 UNC sophomores, juniors and seniors, about 55 percent of the nearly 180 students who replied said their internships were paid.