The University of Mississippi School of Business Administration and the Office of Community Engagement are excited to announce the launch of the UM Talent Connect program for Fall 2021.
UM Talent Connect offers companies/organizations the opportunity to fill short-term, professional assignments by highly motivated Ole Miss students. These micro-internships are project-based assignments that typically last 4 to 40 hours in duration and can include a variety of activities such as social media content creation and database management.
Wesley Dickens, Assistant Director of Experiential Education for the business school, co-manages the program and says it fills a need in the local community. “Many of our business and community partners may not need, or have the ability to host, an intern for a full semester,” he said. “UM Talent Connect bridges this gap and provides an avenue for these organizations to receive student support for short-term projects.” Dickens stated that there is a particular need for project management support in small businesses and non-profits.
Kurt Brummett is the Executive Director of the United Way of Oxford-Lafayette County and supports over 20 local non-profits. “Micro-internships offer non-profits an opportunity to partner with talented students on short-term projects,” he said. “This initiative opens up many collaborative opportunities that might not have otherwise occurred.”
UM Talent Connect will be co-managed by the Office of Community Engagement (OCE), which serves to advance community-engaged research, teaching, service, and scholarship at the university. The OCE recently purchased a platform called
that will be used to facilitate the program. The GivePulse platform will allow companies/organizations to post their projects for students in a variety of business areas including: Marketing, Finance, HR/Management, Entrepreneurship, and Technology. GivePulse will also allow the University to track completed projects and calculate the collective impact on the community.
“The ultimate goal of UM Talent Connect is to support our community partners, while providing valuable experience to our students.” said Dickens. The program is open to all businesses and non-profits. For more information on UM Talent Connect, please email Wesley Dickens at wdickens@bus.olemiss.edu.