A program preparing underrepresented minorities for the hierarchy of corporate America will be expanded University wide this year.
The INROADS Program of Arizona was started in 1988 at ASU and is designed to help students become more understanding of the business environment and prepare them to contribute to corporate America.
This year, College of Business Dean Larry Penley, who sits on the INROADS board of directors, hammered out an agreement with INROADS to help expand the program.
In the agreement formalized this year, the program agrees to provide ASU interns with a basic curriculum that ranges from management skills to community involvement. In return, ASU pledges to help INROADS students find scholarships and grants.
Araxi Hovhannessian, academic access student services coordinator, said the program is an excellent way to integrate students into the real world.
"We try to match students with their interest level," Hovhannessian said. "They get first-hand on-the-job training by interacting with higher management."
Gladys Trevino, a management and finance senior, has been working with the program since high school.
"It's one of the top 100 internship organizations, and it's very competitive," Trevino said. "They align you with your same interests, and it is an eye opener to corporate America."
In order to receive an internship with the program, students must have a 3.0 grade-point average and preference is typically given to students who are of Hispanic, African-American or American Indian descent.
Trevino added that the internship experience allows students to build "rapport" with their company and gives students an insight into the real world, something that Trevino said classes, books and teachers are limited at simulating.
INROADS provides advising, training and tutoring for its students. The student interns spend their summers with a Fortune 500 company and may become full-time staffers after their time as an intern is finished.
Most students who become interns through the program start as early as their senior year in high school. The latest they can apply is their junior year of college.
Ambar Renova, a marketing junior and the president of the INROADS Student Association, said the program is a great opportunity.
"It helps minorities get placed into the job market," Renova said. "INROADS provides us with ongoing training that we can apply to the different companies."
Participating corporations include Honeywell, IBM, Qwest and Xerox. To apply to the program or to find out more information about the sponsoring companies, students are encouraged to visit the INROADS Web site at www.inroads.org.
Reach Tony Ku at thatsku@hotmail.com.
