Business and ICT students wrap up internships

18 December 2019

Business and Information & Communications Technology students marked the end of their internships recently with their Industry Project/Internship Showcase.

UCOL Manawatū’s School of Business and ICT holds its Industry Project/Internship Showcase at the end of each semester, allowing students to share their projects with staff, other students, and industry professionals.

Degree and graduate diploma students each complete internships or industry projects in their final semester.

The students design posters that outline their objectives, learnings, and results, and present them at that Industry Project/Internship Showcase.

Twenty-two organisations from around the Manawatū participated in the Business and Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Internship Programme this semester, ranging from accounting firms to distribution companies. Some students interned at various UCOL departments.

Students Stephanie Oxnam and Marc Williamson received the Executive Dean’s Award for best posters for ICT and Business respectively.

For her industry project, Oxnam designed a role-playing game for iOS and Android.

UCOL will use Oxnam’s game to showcase to prospective students the skills they can learn through the Bachelor of Information and Communications Technology.

Oxnam says the project was perfect for testing her coding and problem-solving skills.

“I was very self-reliant with all of my coding, so if something wasn’t working properly I had to figure out why.”

Oxnam plans to develop her game further so it can be sold online.

Bachelor of Applied Management student Heidi Macaulay took the initiative to start her internship with Bulls & District Community Trust at the beginning of the year, and is now working full-time as the Trust’s Community Coordinator.

Macaulay says the internship gave her the opportunity to use many of the skills she had learnt in class.

“The communication paper I studied helped me address people in a more understanding way and handle difficult situations. I did a marketing paper which helped me promote the Trust and the events I manage. Almost every task I did I could relate to a paper I studied at UCOL,”

Macaulay hopes to take on a UCOL intern herself in the future.

Leanna Burnett, UCOL’s Head of School for Business and ICT, says internships and industry projects allow students to use their learning in a real-world environment and solve problems for local businesses.

“Students learn on the job at the same time as providing their sponsors with IT and business solutions. The experience they get from working in an organisation is invaluable and puts them in a good place when looking for employment at the end of their study.”

“Often the internship/industry project leads onto paid employment either with their sponsor or through the networks students have made during this process.”

Burnett says the internship/industry project opportunities mutually benefit UCOL and local businesses.

“Sponsors often have projects that they are meaning to work on but just don’t have the time, resources or skillset to get it completed. Our students can step in and solve that problem, often exceeding their sponsors’ expectations in the process.”

ENDS

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