COSD - Conferences

2006 Conference Summary

Internship Discussion Panel

Mike Kinney of Ohio State University moderated this Panel, which was comprised of four individuals who have been through internship programs such as the Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) or Entry Point through the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). These individuals with disabilities are either currently employed full time with a member employer or have been students of a member university. The four participants were as follows:

Mary Jane Burnette
Graduating student from the University of Tennessee and internship through WRP.

Minda Dentler
Employed by Accenture in New York and graduate of the University of Washington.

Nadia Ibrahim
Student at the University of Illinois and interning at the US Department of Defense through WRP

Marco Midon
Employed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and a graduate of Florida International University

Each individual had the opportunity to tell their unique story through their answers to questions posed by Mike Kinney. The questions covered several major areas including their process to obtain the internship, the benefits received through the internship, benefits from mentoring, and the amount and quality of assistance received from Disability Services and Career Services. All panel participants showed great motivation and determination to achieve the goals they had set for themselves. Each expressed that their internship experiences were extremely valuable. The Panel also answered a number of questions from the larger group. This segment of the meeting was videotaped and will be available as a training tool for both universities and employers soon. Information regarding ordering this program will soon be on this website in the Training section under Products and Videotapes.