Assignment 5

HEA 530 Interview With the Student Intern Supervisor Interviewer: Shelley, it’s good to meet you. You were out in the field when I met the rest of the staff. Shelley Braxton: It’s nice to meet you, too. I hope you don’t mind if I keep stuffing envelopes while we talk. I just have 50 left to do that the interns didn’t have time to finish, and they have to go in the mail today. Interviewer: I understand deadlines. You graduated from Binchley three years ago? And how long have you been doing the job? Shelley: I started in the fall right after I graduated. Interviewer: And you were in an intern yourself while you were in school? Shelley: Correct. That’s one of the job qualifications for this job. Interviewer: How has it helped you in the job to come aboard as supervisor straight from your internship? Shelley: Well, it helps a lot. I know the college really well, and I was an intern myself, so I can relate to the students who serve as interns now. Some of them were freshman interns when I was a senior. I’ve also worked on some of the same alumni programs year after year, so I know the programs and many of the alumni well. Interviewer: Which programs that you’ve worked on do you find the most personally rewarding? Shelley: My major was Native American studies, so I’m really excited about the pilot program for Native American studies alumni that I’ve worked on with Jesse. We’ve been trying to recruit more interns from Native American studies to help with it, and it’s really paid off. Interviewer: How has it paid off? Shelley: Well, the students we’ve recruited are working on the archeological digs that the alumni participate in for the long weekend program that’s our pilot program. The students’ enthusiasm about the dig is contagious, so the alumni have gotten into it too. The students can also provide a lot of information on the site to the alumni. We got some of the interns to start a blog about the day-to-day work on the dig, and the alumni have really participated in the blog with all kinds of questions after they go home. It’s a way for them to stay in touch with the students, the research, and what the findings are. When they’re involved like that, Jesse and I think it seems more natural for them to respond to ongoing requests for donations. Interviewer: Do you review the blog postings the students write before they get posted?

Shelley: I do and I check with the faculty on the digs if there are questions about facts. We want the blog postings to be spontaneous but also accurate. The blog is an important part of the pilot program. We also post photos and comments from faculty about the significance of their findings. Interviewer: This isn’t really in your job description, is it? Shelley: No, but it’s my favorite part of the job! Jesse has given me the green light to be creative with it. I write postings when the students are on vacation or busy with exams. Interviewer: Do you know if a survey of the alumni of the Native American program has been conducted to measure the effect of the blog and other forms of communication you’ve used has had on their willingness to donate? Shelley: We haven’t.