Iowa – Carol Lytle, Buena Vista Univeristy

A very successful spring meeting of the Iowa Association for Internships and Cooperative Education (IAICE) was held on April 4, 2007 at the headquarters of The AEGON Group in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The Executive Board stepped up its efforts to attract more employers to attend the meeting and potentially join the organization. We submitted a newsletter article about IAICE to Central Iowa SHRM, thus reaching many new employers. In addition, each collegiate member of IAICE was encouraged to bring a colleague for free to the meeting.

The result of these efforts was the largest attendance for a Spring meeting in recent history with a total of 43 registrants, 26 of whom were attending an IAICE meeting for the first time. We also enjoyed the best balance of college professionals and employers that we’ve experienced, with 25 college professionals representing 17 colleges and universities and 16 employers representing 10 businesses.

Several employers opened the program with brief descriptions of their internship programs. We then moved into a small group discussion on current issues and trends, utilizing the Six Thinking Hats technique. We also spent time sharing best practices. The day concluded with a tour of the AEGON facility.

Seeking to build on this momentum, we are finalizing plans for a joint meeting with the College Career Professionals of Iowa (CCPI) in July on the Cornell College campus in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. Program will include a keynote on the topic of intergenerational issues in the workplace. Angela Grafton, Internship and Recruiting Director at St. Ambrose University, will take over as President at this meeting.