Internships Help Students Gain Experience

By Cheryl Kormann, Assistant Director

Internships are a very effective way for college students to gain work experience before graduation. Internships can even turn into full-time jobs or open doors for other opportunities.

The City of New Ulm has a very large and diverse park and recreation department, likely the largest per capita in spending in Minnesota. We maintain and operate three large facilities: civic center (two indoor ice rinks/dry floor space and more); community center, which houses a senior center, meeting and auditorium spaces for evening and weekend rentals; and a newly renovated and expanded recreation center that houses a new aquatic center with the only Ninja Cross obstacle course in the state, waterslides, climbing wall and Zip’N, along with a fieldhouse that has three indoor multi-use gyms and track, 3,000 square feet of fitness space, group fitness studio, racquetball courts and multipurpose space. We also manage over 40 park units ranging from large nature areas on rivers to small neighborhood parks to athletic complexes hosting leagues and tournaments to miles of trails for family and fitness to historical sites downtown.

Only 25 miles to the east of the City of New Ulm is Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSU), which offers a recreation, parks and leadership studies (RPLS) major with one or more of the three major tracks. It is the only nationally accredited undergraduate RPLS program in the state.

The City of New Ulm has worked with MSU’s professors in placing interns in areas such as programming, aquatics, facility operations and parks maintenance to gain experience in these areas. Students from MSU can apply for internships with the City of New Ulm and request certain or multiple areas they are hoping to gain experience; programming, aquatics, facility and park operations and maintenance, ice arena management, etc. Our parks and recreation department is large in terms of what we offer, but relatively small in staff. In fact, our staff members wear multiple hats, making our department appealing in terms of options. Students often begin their careers working as either a parttime or seasonal employee. From there, they often fall in love with the line of work, which results in their pursuit of a degree in RPLS or teaching.

Our department has a good and close working relationship with the faculty at MSU. Kristi Montandon, Ph.D., assistant professor works with students to gauge interest and match those with parks and recreation agencies. Close proximity of New Ulm to MSU, coupled with our diverse offerings and opportunities, makes our agency a good fit for internship opportunities. Interns are able to easily commute to New Ulm, eliminating the need to find additional housing and MSU faculty are able to make timely site visits and meet with staff. For more information about the internships that the City of New Ulm parks and recreation department offers, contact Cheryl Kormann at cherylK@newulmmn.gov