This summer, seven students in the University of Houston College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) will get the chance to work alongside some of the city’s decision-makers. The interns may even have an opportunity to get a glimpse or rub shoulders with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a graduate of CLASS.

The Dean’s Mayoral Internship Program, now in its third year, provides students with valuable service-learning experience in city government. Students will explore career possibilities, gain familiarity with important community initiatives, develop marketable skills and build professional networks.

“These internships are invaluable as it allows our students to gain firsthand exposure of working in the real world, especially in today’s hyper-competitive job market,” said Daniel P. O’Connor, interim dean of CLASS. “Through this internship program, CLASS students can take their first steps toward challenging, difference-making careers in public service.”

The selected students are majors in psychology, economics, political science, finance and journalism. They emerged from a highly competitive selection process to join the Dean’s Mayoral Internship Program.

This year, interns will have an opportunity to assist in the following offices:

Mayor’s Assistance Office – Courtney Washington
Director’s Office of Volunteer Initiatives Program – Ashlynn Hall
Director’s Office of Mayor’s Youth Council – Itxel Ramirez
Education Office – Ben Bliss
Economics Office – Rhonda Hassan
Cultural Affairs Office – Abigail Culver
Complete Communities Program – Sondos Moursy

Partial funding for this project was made possible through a grant from the University of Houston’s Cougar Initiative to Engage, whose mission is dedicated to providing “opportunities for student learning, discovery and engagement … in a real-world setting.”

The internships will run from June 3 to August 6.