INTERNSHIPS KEY IN UNIVERSITY PLAN (THIRD IN A SERIES)

Jenifer Gordon has taken her share of college accounting classes. But much of what she has learned has come from on-the-job training as an intern at a Cape Girardeau manufacturing plant.

Internships are a key component of Southeast Missouri State University's strategic plan.

Students would be required to take internships as part of a curriculum that will emphasize hands-on learning and link education to jobs.

Besides internships, the university plans to offer vocational programs.

John Mehner, Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce president, said such schooling should lead to a better trained work force.

Dr. Bill Atchley, Southeast president, said the business community and the university must work together.

He said both are in the same economic-development boat. "One end goes down, the other end does also."

Nearly 70 percent of graduating seniors at Southeast currently receive some hands-on training in their fields.

But in many of the academic disciplines, internships are voluntary.

"Right now, a student has to really want to do an internship," said Gordon, a Southeast senior.

Gordon has worked as an accounting intern at Dana Corp. since last April. The company manufactures components for vehicle axles.

Gordon, who lives in Chaffee, works about 20 hours a week and gets paid for it.

"Accounting in class is mostly book entries," she said. But at Dana, accounting is done on computers.

"It all goes into a central computer," said Gordon.

She said internships give students "a business perspective on what you learn in the classroom."

Last semester, Gordon took an auditing class and was amazed to discover that some students didn't know what a purchase order was.

With her experience at Dana, Gordon knew all about purchase orders and other business accounting procedures.

Practical training should help students land jobs, said Gordon, who will graduate in May.

Many area businesses have employed college interns in recent years.

Dana Corp. typically employs three interns a semester: one in accounting, one in engineering and another in the metallurgical lab.

Dave Blanchard, Dana's plant manager, believes in internships.

He said the company employs student interns to cooperate with the university, to give students exposure to the "real work world," and to share in what students are learning at Southeast.

"I really feel it is good for everybody," Blanchard said.

Tuesday: A look at how technology is changing learning at Southeast Missouri State University.