The deadline for the Spring 2022 local internship program of the Hinckley Institute at the University of Utah is Sept. 30 (now extended to Oct. 10), while the deadline for national internships is Oct. 1.

“There are two local internship programs,” said Morgan Lyon Cotti, an associate director at the Hinckley Institute. “Hinckley has [its] standard local Internship Program, which is a part-time internship. Most of the offices are with nonprofits, government offices or businesses.”

Every year in the spring, the Hinckley Institute provides the local legislative internship “which is when students get to go to [the] Utah State Capitol and work full time and be paid to staff a legislator or another elected official,” Lyon Cotti said. “Students can experience high-level substantive work.”

The Hinckley Institute usually has around 30 students work in Washington, D.C. every semester and provides students with national internships primarily in government offices, advocacy organizations and lobbying groups.

“Hinckley provides students with apartments with highly discounted rent in D.C.,” Lyon Cotti said. “The U has acquired a property near Dupont Circle in Washington D.C., and plans to refurbish and turn into housing for our students. We will be able to accommodate up to 50 students a semester.”

According to Lyon Cotti, for the global internship program, which the deadline for has already passed, Hinckley has sent students to dozens of countries, working with Parliaments, government offices and NGOs. Students can learn or improve on a language, but they also get the added benefit of learning how to adapt to a new professional culture in a different country and a different environment.

“Hinckley has both internship-related scholarships and academic scholarships,” Lyon Cotti said. “Hinckley tries to provide financial assistance to as many interns as possible, taking financial barriers down for students who need to do these internships.”

Lyon Cotti said all national and global interns receive internship-related scholarships. They also have standard academic scholarships students can apply for in the spring.

“My internship time at D.C. was the best semester I had at the U,” said Ann Lopez, an outreach coordinator at the Hinckley Institute.  “I graduated in the summer semester of 2021 and got a job at [the] Hinckley [in] July.”

According to Lopez, the most important thing students can get through the Hinckley internship is networking experience. Students can expand their personal network with people they have met through their internship, and practice the skills they have gained from the internship workplace in their fields after graduation.

“Take advantage of the opportunities that the Hinckley offers,” said Lopez. “What you should know when you leave college is where your passion is headed, and this internship can be a great opportunity to figure [that] out.”

Lyon Cotti said the goal of the Hinckley Institute is to help students.

“We want them to have access to these types of professional experiences and mentorships that are so critical for them as they move forward with their careers and with graduate school,” Lyon Cotti said.

For more information about the Hinckley Internship programs, visit their website.

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This article was updated on Oct. 3, 2021, to add information about an extended deadline.