California Communities Program

Internships

The California Communities Program (CCP) has a small grants program to support graduate students working on field projects in conjunction with county Cooperative Extension offices. The program's purpose is threefold:

To provide graduate students with professional experience and skills;

To develop campus-county linkages.

To support county-based projects that reflect the CCP mission to fortify local governance, build citizenship capacity, and enhance economic development.

COMMUNITY IMPACTS

Many CCP intern projects were successful in creating positive community outcomes and in improving Cooperative Extension’s visibility and influence in the community. Examples include:

In Santa Clara County, advisor Fe Moncloa and intern Aura de Mare created a Latina Teen Pregnancy Prevention Handbook. The Department of Public Health is now using it as a staff training tool, and it is also disseminated at statewide conferences.
In Marin County, advisor Ellie Rilla and intern Pamela Vargas created a documentary entitled The Hidden Bounty of Marin. Designed to educate the community about the importance of supporting local sustainable food systems, the film is still screened throughout the region and used in classrooms with students of all ages.
In Nevada County, advisor Roger Ingram and intern Chris Kerston designed a Nevada County Farm guide to promote local farms and ranches. The guide not only informed consumers and created interest in local food, but also helped build momentum around the need for an agriculture marketing program in Nevada County.
In Butte County, advisor Glenn Nader and intern Annie Maddalena met cattle ranchers’ needs by analyzing variables in the beef market and recommending marketing alternatives. These results were then published in trade magazines. The ranchers found the assistance so helpful that they maintained a relationship with Cooperative Extension for future projects.
In Santa Barbara County advisor Michael Marzolla and intern Annie Yau worked on many aspects of the Latino Youth Capacity Building component of Agua Pura. Yau designed curriculum and workshops around watershed education and created a water and waste management photonovella (comic book) with input from the community. Public Housing continues to use these products as educational tools.

INTERNSHIP APPLICATION AND REPORTING PROCESS
Intern projects involve research or educational activities and each student works directly with a Cooperative Extension advisor who serves as a supervisor and mentor. The application process is handled on-line and it is kept simple to avoid burdensome paperwork. The CCP Advisory Committee reviews proposals and awards $5,000 for each project. A final report is due at the end of the internship, done in the ANR UC Delivers format (go to the top of this web page and click on the UC Delivers link to look at samples and use as a template). For more information contact David Campbell, 530-754-4328; dave.c.campbell@ucdavis.edu.

INTERNSHIPS AND PROJECTS 2008-09

H. Steven Dasher, San Diego County
Military Mentors for Youth Development

Richard P. Enfield, San Luis Obispo County
Exploration of Home Based Food Microprocessing in California

Susie Kocher, El Dorado County
Landscape Restoration After the Angora Fire in South Lake Tahoe, California

Cathi Lamp, Tulare County
Development of Two School-based Fruit and Vegetable Stands in Rural Tulare County
Shelley Murdock, Contra Costa County
Youth Commission Leadership Program: Building Infrastructure
Carole Paterson, Solano County
Solano County Demonstration Garden Feasibility Study
Fred H. Swanson, ANR Kearney Research and Extension Center
Leveraging of U.C. Expertise and Expanding the High School Outreach Program
Yvonne Wood, Inyo-Mono Counties
Planning to Meet Environmental Horticultural Needs in a Land of Extremes

PREVIOUSLY FUNDED INTERNSHIPS

Previous CCP Interships (Updated January 2009)

During the past seven years, CCP has funded more than 60 intern projects in 37 different county Cooperative Extension Offices. They are listed by county, with the supervising advisors name in bold and the university from which the intern came in parentheses if known. (The Internship Program Evaluation Report is also available below.)

INFORMATION ON EXTENSION INTERNSHIPS

Evaluation of the California Communities Program Graduate Student Internship Program (July 2009)

CCP Internship Program Evaluation Report (June 2002)

Student Internships in Extension: Strategies for Success for the Agent and the Student - http://www.joe.org/joe/2008august/tt3.shtml