Full Description

In 2000, AWWA contracted with the authors to conduct asurvey to determine whether utility managers and collegeprofessors would be interested in an AWWA-sponsored,web-based forum to encourage student internships at utilities.More than 2,000 surveys were distributed to more than 100 academicprograms and more than 100 utilities. The response rate wasmore than 19% for utilities and between 11 and 33% for theacademic programs.The survey found that there is overwhelming support (morethan 90% of surveys received) for a web-based forum. Respondentssaid that it is often hard to find qualified students for utilityinternships because of a lack of contacts, the distance betweencolleges and utilities, and a lack of a centralized repository for suchinformation. The study also gathered benchmark data about existingstudent internships, and the respondents provided AWWA withsuggestions for improving student experiences in the water utilityindustry. The authors concluded that AWWA needs to take thenext step in establishing the web-based internship forum as part ofa larger effort to attract a younger generation to pursue careers atwater utilities and increase their involvement with AWWA. Includes tables.

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Edition: Vol. 95 - No. 8 Published: 08/01/2003 Number of Pages: 10 File Size: 1 file , 640 KB