The newest program offered by the Career Design Center to provide financial support to students pursuing meaningful experiential learning opportunities is the Internship Support + Emergency Fund (ISEF). Modeled after the UB Student Life Emergency Fund, ISEF is designed to help cover personal costs that may prevent students from participating in various forms of experiential learning—such as internships, research, on-campus jobs, and education abroad.
While opportunities may be either credit- or non-credit-bearing, students must be actively enrolled at the University for the duration of the experience and must not have previously received emergency funding from other campus-based emergency programs for the same purpose.
Eligible expense categories include transportation, relocation costs, essential technology and supplies, emergencies, and other relevant expenses that serve as direct barriers to participation. Ineligible expenses include tuition and related fees, rent, car payments, and other ongoing living costs that would be incurred regardless of involvement in the experiential learning opportunity.
Since launching in July, this program has supported 70+ students, totaling over $100,000 in funding. These students have participated in experiences across the country and beyond—from New York to Washington D.C. to South Korea! Keep reading to learn more about a couple students the Career Design Center has supported so far:
Maximilian Malawista was one of the first recipients of ISEF, shortly after its launch in July. As a correspondent intern at the Inter Press Service United Nations Bureau in New York City, he was responsible for researching and publishing articles related to economics, focusing primarily on supply chains. Being able to spend the summer in NYC was essential for Maximilian, so he could spend time in the press rooms and at UN events, meeting “representatives of different countries and agencies like Unicef, UNDP, UNCTAD, and the UN Global Compact.” Without funding for temporary housing, transportation, and essentials during the summer, Maximilian would have likely had to stop interning in-person, which would have limited his professional growth.
As part of her PharmD program, Mackenzie White traveled to Surfside Beach, South Carolina for an opportunity to work with an independent pharmacy. During this internship, she led vaccine clinics, counseled patients on proper medication use, and researched drug interactions in improve patient care. This opportunity was beneficial to Mackenzie both professionally, increasing her “ability to apply classroom knowledge in real-world settings,” and personally, allowing her to grow in “patience, empathy, and adaptability.” ISEF funded travel costs and temporary housing for her rotation in South Carolina, which enabled her “to engage deeply in patient care, vaccine clinics, presentations, and clinical research tasks…to maximize the learning and professional growth opportunities of the rotation.”
The Internship Support + Emergency Fund is open year-round, and students can find more information—as well as the link to apply—by visiting our website, linked here. You can also explore additional Career Design Center funding opportunities on the same page. Keep us in mind as you explore your experiential learning opportunities throughout your UB journey!
