Florida State University’s Information Technology Services (ITS) recently celebrated a significant milestone: mentoring more than 100 interns in a semester.
These interns provide support in cybersecurity, communications, user research, app development and networking. They are assisting 56 supervisors across ITS.
“Reaching our goal of more than 100 technology internships this semester is more than just a number. It is a testament of our commitment to supporting student success inside and outside the classroom,” said Jonathan Fozard, associate vice president and chief information officer.
In the fall of 2021, ITS started with 12 interns and by spring 2023, the leadership set an ambitious goal to reach 100 interns in a single semester as part of its RISE 2030 campaign.
The goal of RISE is to advance technology projects in four key pillars: research and instruction, innovation and modernization, security and compliance, engagement and student success.
“The cohort represents the engagement and student success pillar because it provides students with the chance to broaden their professional skills and help them achieve future success,” Fozard said.
The intern cohort includes freshman to graduate-level students. To accommodate the students’ diverse needs, participants work in various settings: in-person, hybrid and virtual. The team consists of 23 returning interns and 77 new cohort members.
Interns gain expertise in leading projects, coordinating and leading meetings and designing new interfaces. In past cohorts, a team of six research interns investigated the challenges of hybrid learning and proposed potential solutions. In addition, an intern from the user experience team designed a power app for the FSU Career Center’s InternFSU application.
This semester, a group of interns is working with the ITS application development team to create a web application that will streamline the processing of supervisor applications for the internship program. These projects allow ITS interns to tackle real-world challenges and gain practical experience.
ITS interns are invited to networking events, professional development sessions and workshops. They can also attend monthly coffee hours with guest speakers and participate in events to celebrate their hard work. These events are designed to contribute to the interns’ success, both during and after their time in the program. Multiple interns are receiving offers for full-time employment from ITS upon graduation.
Brayden Poorvin began interning in fall 2022 as an ITS solutions architect intern. His dedication earned him a promotion to team lead, followed by a transition to a user experience research intern in summer 2023. After graduation, Poorvin secured a full-time role with ITS as a Service Desk level 2 team lead.
“Being an intern for ITS opened a lot of doors for me. I gained experience working in a professional environment with diverse teams and received mentorship from knowledgeable people who are dedicated to helping FSU have a healthy relationship with technology,” Poorvin said. “Additionally, working for FSU has provided me with many opportunities to grow as I move on from being an intern. My internship helped me secure a full-time position with ITS that I am now working in, while working toward a master’s degree that is being paid for by the school.”
“I highly recommend people of all backgrounds look at the internship opportunities offered at ITS,” Poorvin said. “They can take you far.”
Johnathan Weiss joined the ITS team in 2023 as a PeopleSoft security intern before working as an enterprise document management intern. After graduation, he started a full-time role as an IT services coordinator.
“Being an intern for ITS was an enriching experience that felt like a continuous investment in my professional growth,” Weiss said. “As an intern, I felt empowered to take risks and lead large-scale projects like user acceptance testing for the OnBase 22.1 upgrade.”
“Honestly, I knew I wanted to do something on this scale for ITS but was nervous,” Weiss said. “That was short-lived, as my mentor, Darla Shrum, encouraged me to take up the project in stride, and I won’t forget when I launched the UAT initiative and the massive support I received from my peers. I feel indebted to each person I interacted with, as they treated me with respect and compassion. I was thrilled to be offered a full-time staff position after graduating with my degree in August 2024.”
Previously, ITS has partnered with companies like Microsoft, Accenture and Fan Data Insights to provide interns with experience with top-tier brands. The department hopes to broaden these partnerships this semester and offer even more opportunities for interns.
“The future of our cohort program is extremely bright,” said Sara Mischler, outreach coordinator in ITS. “We are looking to expand our efforts with external partners and secure sponsorships from external companies so we can continue to provide new and exciting opportunities for our students. Ultimately, reaching 100 interns is a significant milestone and achievement for the ITS intern cohort, and we are celebrating this success as a pivotal moment in the program’s journey.”
To apply for future ITS internships, visit NoleNetwork at https://career.fsu.edu/nolenetwork.