Minority Internship Program (MIP) was designed to help minority students who, after graduating from college, could not find jobs due to their lack of experience.

Mona Davenport, director of Minority Affairs, explained the importance of getting an internship to a group of almost 30 students in the Martinsville room in the MLK University Union building Wednesday at 5 p.m.

MIP is open to African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans (or Pacific Islanders), Native Americans and Alaskan Natives.

The student must be a full time undergraduate or graduate student.

Undergraduate students must be at least juniors with a cumulative GPA of 2.75 on a 4.0 grading scale. Graduate students must have a minimum 3.25 GPA or better.

MIP is offered at four other universities; Chicago State, Governors State, Northeastern Illinois and Western Illinois.

Davenport said finding the internship is totally up to the student and the help of Career Services. “Intern at a company you have always wanted to work at,” she suggested.

Barry Griffin, senior accounting and finance major, said his internship as an internal auditor gave him insight that he could not find in a classroom.

Griffin interned for almost a month in Old Main in the Internal Auditor Office this summer.

“A lot of internships don’t pay you, but this does,” he said.

MIP does pay the interns a monthly stipend of $1000. However, the intern must pay for tuition for the duration of their internship.

“Internships are offered all semesters but the intern should keep in mind that they must put in 35 hours a week,” Davenport said.

The intern sometimes is allowed to take a class over the summer but it is hard to do so with an almost 8-hour workday, Davenport said. “These internships are for full-time experience.”

“It pushed me to the next level,” Otis Seawood, a family and consumer sciences major said.

Internship applications are available at the Minority Affairs Web site. The deadline for accepting applications is Monday, Sept. 28.

Zinika Livingston can be reached at 581-7942 or at zclivingston@eiu.edu.