The BYU Ballard Center for Economic Self-Reliance is offering a new on-campus internship for students Winter 2018. Students participating in the corporate social responsibility internship discuss plans for their project. (Ty Mullen)
BYU’s new on-campus internship allows students to earn class credit while working for leading companies in the field of corporate social responsibility.
Students participating in this internship will have the opportunity to work on projects from the Forbes top 10 corporate social responsibility corporations, as well as corporate social responsibility projects from other noteworthy organizations the Ballard Center has worked with in the past.
“We have projects from doTERRA, Boehringer and Cisco,' said internship director Reid Robison. 'We are still hopeful this term to have additional projects from BMW, Microsoft and Apple.”
Winter 2018 is the first semester the internship has been available. According to internship research assistant Lauren Johnson, having a class where students work with prestigious companies while on campus is valuable.
'Because it is a pilot and we are getting the hang of it, it is very hands-on, and we are looking for people that really want to expand their learning experience and go out and excel in the projects the companies have given them,” Johnson said.
Johnson said by Fall 2018, the goal is to add 25 additional projects from companies that have been on the Forbes top 10 list.
“I hope students will be enlightened as to the impact socially responsible corporations can have in the world and will be much more aware not only of the current needs, but the opportunities for careers in this space that exist,' Robison said. 'I believe this fits within the aims of a BYU education in a very real and practical way.”
Alyssa Clark is a BYU student participating in the internship this semester through an impact evaluation project with BrainStorm.
Clark has worked with non-profit organizations before but is interested in understanding more about the way corporations can create a social impact.
'I think that corporate social responsibility is an area with the potential for a lot of growth in the future,' Clark said.
The corporate social responsibility internship is available to undergraduate, master's of business administration and master's of public administration students. Interested students can register for section 5 of Bus M 494R: On Campus Experiential Project.