Intern - In Turn

For the past two years, the Adult Degree Program (ADP) and the Psychology Department have collaborated to provide internship opportunities for senior students in the psychology major at JMU. Student interns spend one semester working with Dr. Windi Turner, ADP Director & Academic Unit Head, and Virginia Trovato, ADP Academic Advisor. The chief goal of the internship is for students to learn about the role and responsibilities of academic programming for non-traditional students in higher education. Throughout this unique experience, students develop a better understanding of best practices for academic advising with non-traditional and at-risk students. Along the way, they assist with peer advising, student retention efforts, research, and data collection.

This semester, Anthony Naranjo was selected to complete his internship in ADP. He is a graduating senior completing his bachelor of science in psychology. Anthony has been an asset to ADP and to our students. His psychology background lent itself well to the human relation skills of advising. He has a calm, steady presence and is a great listener. Anthony’s work has been focused on projects related to academic support for non-traditional students. Some of his work examples include: mentoring students; creating an online resource document; providing insights for our ADP students during their advising sessions; participating in the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) national conference; and observing a persona workshop with our marketing team. His final research paper is focused on retention of non-traditional students in higher education and in particular, non-white non-traditional students. We have enjoyed working with Anthony so much this semester. His perspective has been of great value.

"Working with the ADP this semester has been a tremendous learning experience. Being able to work directly with students to help resolve issues, as well as familiarizing myself with higher education has been intriguing and helpful for a number of reasons." Anthony commented. "Working with amazing individuals such as Dr. Turner and Mrs. Trovato has been a privilege, as I have learned so much from them. As a Psychology major, this experience has allowed me to view potential issues in higher education through a unique lens, which I believe to be beneficial for the program as a whole.  I have thoroughly enjoyed researching new information and strategies that will hopefully have a positive impact on ADP. As my time with ADP quickly comes to an end, I look forward to moving on to the next chapter in my career, working as a Recruiter with Addison Group in Herndon, VA. I will always be grateful for the vast amount of information and guidance I have received in the ADP in Professional & Continuing Education."