Graduate Intern Programs & Funding your degree

Welcome everyone and I see everybody starting to filter in.

My name is Grace Clement.

And I'm a part of the admissions team here at the University of Illinois Springfield. Before we get started, I'm just going to let everybody kind of filter in a little bit more for another minute and then I'll get started with some housekeeping notes.

Hey, Jason, How are you doing?

Good morning.

Good morning.

Alright, alright. Hey Brian, how you doing?

Fine, thank you.

Good, good, good. Alright, I think we're got about.

Almost 50 people in here. So I'm just going to go ahead and get started Again. As I said, my name is Bryce Clement. I'm with the University of Illinois Springfield admissions team. I'm located here up in Chicago, IL. And today we're going to, before we get started in this presentation, I'm just going to give a couple of housekeeping notes that everybody knows. So this.

Webinar that we're having is going to be recorded so that just everybody knows and that's just so that everybody doesn't have to take frantic notes or anything like that.

That you can kind of really kind of sit and absorb and make sure that you're kind of fully engaged within the conversation today. Please do not drop any questions about your personal application into the chat.

I'll be monitoring that, but you can also just feel free to e-mail us at emissions@uis.edu with any of your questions in that regard. And with that, what I'm going to do is I'm going to introduce our host, our our, our guest today who will be speaking on the GPSI program, Mr. Jason Haynes and Brian Moore from the GPSI program. And with that, I'll turn it over to them.

All right. Thank you, Brace. As Brace mentioned, Brian and here and I are here today to talk to you about some of the graduate opportunities that are available at UIS. Both the GPSI and the GA program are completed as a part of a graduate degree at UIS. And so that's what we'll be, we'll be speaking through today here. So without any further ado.

Let me make sure I can control the slides here.

And before we get started, this is actually the first event of an entire week of programming put on by our admissions office. So it would really encourage everyone on the the video today that if you have not already signed up for one of the sessions about a particular academic program at Uis would really encourage you to take a look at those. Because while the GPSI and Georgia programs are conducted as a part of your graduate education, obviously.

You're going to want to learn a little bit about the actual graduate programs at UIS. So what we're going to go through today is we're going to talk a little bit about UIS as an institution. We'll do a brief delivery on the actual graduate degrees that you can complete at UIS, and then we'll get into the specifics about the GPSI and Georgia programs. I know we've got the ILSIP program listed there on the agenda.

If you are interested in that program, we are doing another session at noon today, so in another hour.

Depending on what time you are locally. So if you are interested in that program, but that is a separate program and you're not completing a graduate degree alongside that program as well. And then as Brace mentioned, we'll have some time for questions after that.

So let's go ahead and get started. So if you're not already familiar with the University of Illinois, Springfield, we are located in Springfield, IL.

Which is just South of Chicago. So most people are familiar with the city of Chicago. It's it's the third largest city in the United States and we're relatively close to Chicago. It's about a three hour trip by by car, about the same by train, and there is a train station that connects both Springfield and Chicago with a Direct Line. We're also much closer to a another.

Population Center in the United States.

With Saint Louis being about 90 miles away with about a 1 1/2 hour drive depending on where you're going in Saint Louis, the city of Springfield itself is a fairly large city as well. It's actually the capital of Illinois and it does have a population of around 120,000 people. So it is a fairly large city in Illinois. But the unique thing about UIS is that the campus is actually set a little bit outside of the city. So while.

Springfield itself is a large city. The campus is actually more of a rural setting. It's a it's a very large campus.

Very wide open spaces, so it's not quite.

A city type setting for our institution.

And this picture right here actually gives you a great view of what our quad looks like. So you can see what the center of campus looks like. We've got the the colonnade right there in the center of campus that connects a lot of the main buildings right on the quadrangle with the the student union right there in the background. So UIS is a public university, it's part of the University of Illinois system which has three main campuses in Illinois, the the main campuses in Urbana, Champaign.

But there is also another campus in Chicago, University of Illinois, Chicago, and then we are another campus in Springfield. Now what is unique about UAS compared to some of the other system institutions is that we have a much more small, close knit feel. We have a lot of small class sizes and you're going to have a much more intimate relationship with any professors that you have because of our low student to faculty ratios.

So depending on your academic major, you may be in a class that only has, you know, upwards of 10 or even fewer people in it and and that's going to help you in those discussions with your classmates. You're going to have a much more close relationship with your professors and you're you're really going to feel comfortable asking them questions.

You know, either in class periods or after, and something else at. One of our accolades is that UIS was recently named.

And has been named several years running the number one public regional university in Illinois.

So I won't read through these exactly, but just to kind of give you an idea of the degrees that are available at UIS, these are all the degrees that we offer at the graduate level and most of these degrees are offered as online programs as well. Now one thing to know is that opportunities for online students within the GPSI and Georgia programs are somewhat limited.

So keep that in mind if GPSI or Georgia are opportunities that you are seeking that.

There there aren't as many opportunities for online students.

In fact, Brian, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe GPS is the only one that that actually offers.

Online opportunities, is that correct?

Yeah, we GA requires an on campus present presence, Yes, to participate.

Right. So we do have some limited opportunities within GPSI.

For online students, but it really depends on the internships that are being offered at a given time, whether the.

Institutions that are offering that internship placement are OK with that being a fully remote position and you've been able to complete.

The the the degree online at the same time.

So getting into the specifics about the programs themselves, starting off with the GPSI program, now the GPSI program is is a long standing program at UAS. We actually just entered the 50th year of existence with its starting in 1974. So this is a try to true program that has been in existence for many years and has provided a great experience for all of our our past interns.

So the intent of this internship is to provide you with.

An opportunity to get experience with public service now our our office does is we will seek out internships with various entities that kind of meet those criteria.

The most of our internships are with Illinois State agencies. So think about Department of Public Health, Department of Revenue, things like that. We also have placements within local governments, so the City of Springfield is represented and then we also do have some placements with not-for-profit agencies. So these are agencies that are providing some public good, but they are not necessarily.

Within government itself.

The great thing about this internship is that it's going to provide you with some real world work experience. You know you may be in a situation where you are, you've maybe had a part time job, maybe worked fast food, or even done some like babysitting or mowing lawns over the summer. But this is going to be your your your first experience with more of an office type setting. It's also going to help you build a professional network. So the goal of the internship is for you to build some professional contacts.

Within the context of the the industry that you're interested in and to hopefully be able to use those contacts and leverage them for for future employment or for future professional development.

So with this internship, you are working part time hours during the fall and spring semesters, so that works out to 20 hours a week in addition to the classes that you're taking as a part of your graduate program.

One of the unique things about this internship is that it is a long term placement, so most of our interns are completing.

This program over the course of anywhere from 18 to 21 months, depending on the length of their graduate program. Some of our interns are able to even extend it up to two years, once again depending on the length of the graduate program. So during the summer months where you may not be taking classes, you're actually going to be working full time hours for your placements. And most of our placements are located in Springfield, but we do have some limited numbers that are located in Chicago.

And for those that are in Chicago, you would be taking online courses, so you would have to be enrolled in a online UIS graduate degree.

So this is just to kind of give you an example of where some of our internship locations are located. You know the first few up there are all Illinois executive agencies and I would say the vast majority of our placements are with Illinois executive agencies. But we do have some within local government. We have some in city of Springfield and those are kind of varied internships. We have some that are doing work in the actual.

Mayor's office we have some that are actually doing some work for the the street department so they're they're helping you know some research with on city Lighting is one of the one of the projects that one of our interns has been working. But then we also have relationships with some of the not-for-profit agencies in the area vision for Hope and Illinois Innocence Project, just a couple of examples there.

So what? What are our interns doing? Well, because this is a long term internship.

The opportunities are a little bit more extended for our our interns themselves. It's it's a little bit beyond what you might expect from a typical summer internship where you might just be helping out around the office. A lot of our interns are doing the work of government. They are actually being trusted with the actual administration of various programs that are going on in government.

So this slide will give you kind of a quick example of what some of those internships are looking like.

Now, the GPSI program does come with some benefits if you are selected into the program.

For the first benefit is a tuition waiver. This tuition waiver is good for up to 24 credit hours per academic year. That is based on the time that you would be entering the internship. So if you started an internship at the very beginning of an academic year, you would be eligible for the the whole 24 credit hours.

Now that tuition waiver is currently given at the in state rate and then we also provide a partial fee waiver.

Which covers some of the student fees that you may be assessed, but not all. Currently that's worth up to $1300 per academic year.

And then because this is a paid internship, you do receive a stipend on top of the additional benefits that I just went through there. So during the part time portion of the year, so basically the fall and spring semesters, you receive $1200 pre tax.

As payment for your services during the summer months, you're you're working full time hours, so your stipend gets doubled essentially to $2400 pretax per month.

And then another opportunity that's available to our interns is a professional Development Fund, which is up to $300.00 per year. And this is a fund that is available to you to reimburse any expenses that you may have incurred that would be going towards your professional development. So we've had interns that have been reimbursed for conference fees that they have wanted to attend a conference. If there's online trainings that are related to their degree, they've been able to use these funds.

Reimbursed for those things.

So that kind of provides A brief overview of the GPSI program itself. And next Brian is going to talk more specifically about the Georgia program.

Thanks, Jason. So these programs are really very similar with the key difference being that the graduate assistant ships are on campus positions whereas GPSI is outside of campus, so.

The the placements are across campus, they might be with an academic program. We also have assistantships in the various support units across campus, such as International Student Services or the Public Public Affairs.

ETC. So you're going to work right alongside with the academic units and the campus programs to provide support.

These these are not as as Jason said before, it's not just office work. This is supposed to be graduate level learning experience. So we want the assistantship to complement your your academic program.

You're going to get professional working spirits just like GPSI. You're going to have something that you're going to be able to put on your resume saying yes, I worked with this professor, I worked in this program and these are the the the things that I accomplished were the the different settings that I worked in.

Another difference between GPSI and GA is is the work. So GAS work in the fall and spring, but they do not work over the summer terms, so there's no GAS in the summer, so.

You get summers off that the work hours are the same 20 hours, 20 hours a week during the fall and spring.

Do you have the next one there, Jason?

Maybe I could toggle it?

So.

There's different classifications of graduate assistantships. That might be a graduate assistant. It might be a teaching assistant, a research assistant, or a pre professional graduate assistant.

That pre professional would apply to someone, maybe in the counseling program who might be working at the counseling center on campus. But these are all.

Even though there's different designations, TA, RH, PGA, they're all graduate assistantships. The rate of pay is the same, the benefits are the same, there's just differences in the type of work that the assistant might be doing.

Let's see if I can toggle.

Benefits. Again, they're similar, just some differences. For the GA, you can get up to a tuition waiver for up to 30 credit hours in an academic year.

So for example, you might be able to take 12 hours in the fall, 12 hours in the spring and then even though GAS don't work in the summer.

You're eligible for up up to six hours, six credit hours, tuition waiver over the summer term.

So someone who is maybe enrolled in a 30 hour program such as MBA, if they are awarded a graduate assistantship, they'd be able to get those credit waiver, the tuition waiver for the whole 30 hours 12:12 and 6:00.

Most of our most of our assistants do serve from 2:00 to 4:00 semesters, again depending on the length of their academic program.

The stipend. As you can see it's very similar. It's for G as it's 1266 per month for second year assistance, there's a $60.00 increase in that monthly stipend.

Let's see.

So I guess, Jason, you can go ahead with this one I suppose.

You're muted.

Thank you. So the way that you apply for both of our programs, we do share an application. So when you fill out our application, you can indicate on it whether you are interested in just Georgia, just GPSI or if you're interested in being considered for both programs. And I would say please make sure that you indicate on that. We have had some individuals that thought they were applying to both, but they actually only indicated one or the other.

And so they weren't considered in our hiring rounds because of that. So we just say pay attention to that if you have not yet applied to the GPSI or GA programs. So your first step in the application process is that you would need to apply to a graduate program at UIS and you can do that at the link right there, uis.edu/apply. And we do require you to be admitted to that graduate program. Excuse me.

Before.

Excuse me, you might need to take over Brian.

So some of the other application requirements is we do require a resume and then three letters of recommendation and then for you do need to have a 2.5 GPA to be considered.

So once you've completed all those things, our programs are a little bit different.

And how we function. And I'm going to let Brian take over and talk about how his interview rounds go while I go get a drink of water.

OK. Thanks Jason. So I I would add to that that you can apply to both programs.

And most students do. But if you once you accept a position with one of the others, so say you accept AGPS I position, then we're going to take you remove you from consideration for the graduate assistantship pool. Same thing if you accept a graduate assistantship. You can't then.

Remain in the GPSI hiring pool, so once you accept one position or the other then you're removed from consideration.

And on that 2.5.

GPA. That's your undergraduate GPA. If you've completed graduate coursework, you need to have a three 3.0 graduate level GPA also for the three letters of recommendation. If you're a graduate program requires letters of recommendation as part of the application process, then those letters can also be used for the GAGPSI application. In fact, they'll be automatically linked to your to your GAGPSI application.

The deadlines well.

For, for, I think there's a little bit of difference here. For for GA, our annual application deadline is March 15th.

And I guess that for GPSI then it would be March 31st?

Yeah, sorry, that's.

This information might be a little bit out of date on here, so we have placed all of our for GPSI. We have placed all of our interns for Spring 2024.

So that deadline has passed, but if you would like to be considered for any placements that are hiring for Fall 2024 semester, then GPS is deadline is March 31st.

And then Brian, you said that March 15th is for Georgia.

Yes, March 15th for GA.

Perfect. So I think that covers everything about the application. One thing that I did want to go through about the GPSI selection process because we do receive a lot of emails about you know status of applications, things like that. We're not going to be reviewing applications until we get a little bit closer to those deadlines.

So as long as you have everything turned in and you've been accepted to AUS graduate program.

By March 15th for Georgia or March 31st for GPSI, you will be considered for that. But just know that it does take a little bit of time to get through those applications. These are very popular programs. So we see a lot of applications for these.

And so it does take some time to evaluate those applications. But one thing I would like to say is that.

You know, Brian and I are basically just evaluating you for program eligibility.

We are not the ones that actually make decisions about who wants to interview you for a given position or a given opportunity. We're basically providing that information and that certification that you're eligible for our programs and that you can be considered as a candidate and that.

Those that are actually selected for interviews will be contacted in the weeks after our deadlines to actually start the the interview process.

So is there anything to add to that, Brian?

No, just that I mean it is these are highly competitive programs with you know the number of applications is is significantly higher than the number of available positions. So I just encourage you to take some time writing your cover letter and also be sure you get in well ahead of the deadline in case there's any issues with your application.

And if you do have any questions, feel free to reach out to our respective.

E-mail addresses there GPS imail4@uis.edu for GPSI program and GAPROG at UIS for GA program. Once again we we are similar programs but we do operate on a different track. So you know if you have a question specific to one or the other, you know make sure that your e-mail in the appropriate.

Group because I'm not going to know about the Georgia programs status.

And likewise, Brian is not going to know where we're at with the GPSI program.

And with that, I think Brace, we are done with the presentation if we have any questions remaining.

I think we can hear you now.

OK, awesome. So.

One question that I did see in there was from Doctor McNair. He asked what hours weeks qualifies as part time while enrolled full time Uis.

So this is kind of different for.

If I'm understanding your question correctly, this is a little bit different between domestic students and international students. So for our international students that are applying to this program and ultimately get opportunities within GPSI.

You are allowed to to work in these programs because.

While you are an intern or a Georgia, you are considered a UIS employee. So specifically for GPSI, even though you're working at the placements, you are considered an employee of the university. So it's essentially considered on campus work even though.

You're you're you're working off campus at these placements.

So for those that are on an F1 visa, you are restricted to no more than 20 hours per week of work.

Now that just aligns well with what the GPSI expectations are is that you need to work at least 20 hours a week when in the program. So there are some additional things like you do receive some leave allotments each year, you can also bank sometimes. So it's essentially used as overtime that you can use towards future time. But those are all specifics that we would kind of cover in an orientation once you actually received an opportunity.

Awesome. And so guys, if you take a look at the slide here, you have both Jason and Brians information here. You can e-mail them to get more understanding of their programs, respective programs, as well as you can e-mail us at admissions@uis.edu. And with that, we will close out this session. Thank you for joining us and we'll take and take care.

Thanks Bryson. Thank you everyone else.

Thank you.