By Janice Phelan,
January 3, 2019
The Missouri Innovation Campus (MIC) is welcoming four new business partners this
school year, including , , and . The new partners are among more than 50 businesses providing mentoring and on-the-job
training for students participating in the program鈥檚 comprehensive paid internships.
A total of 97 students are currently enrolled in the Missouri Innovation Campus programs with 70 students participating in the corporate internships. After spending three
years working for the companies, the students are well-prepared to enter the workforce.
鈥淚t provides them with a year-round, three-year internship that helps the students
offset college expenses and gives them hands-on, real-world applied learning opportunities
in a business setting,鈥 said Stan Elliott, MIC director.
These long-term internships also offer students and business representatives opportunities
to get better acquainted.
The nationally recognized Missouri Innovation Campus program is a partnership involving
the 欧美视频 (UCM), the Lee鈥檚 Summit R-7 School District, Metropolitan
Community College (MCC) and the corporate partners. Students begin the program as
high-school juniors and seniors at Summit Technology Academy, operated by Lee鈥檚 Summit
R-7. They have the opportunity to earn an associate degree from MCC soon after receiving
their high-school diploma in three of the six programs. MIC students can earn a bachelor鈥檚
degree from the 欧美视频 within two years of high-school graduation
in all six programs.
Since it launched in 2012, three cohorts of MIC students have earned bachelor鈥檚 degrees
with full-time employment placement for these grads at 99 percent. Connections remain
strong between the students and their corporate partners with 98 percent of the students
placed into full-time employment accepting a job at the company where they interned.
鈥淭his is truly on-the-job, personalized learning for our students,鈥 Elliott added,
鈥淭here is a tremendous value for the students in the intern programs. The curriculum
is developed by the corporate partners in collaboration with Summit Technology Academy,
Metropolitan Community College and the 欧美视频 instructors.
This helps eliminate the skills gap that we hear so much about across the nation.鈥
Businesses interested in becoming a corporate partner are encouraged to contact Stan
Elliott at (660) 543-8256.