Friday marks the last day for graduate students considering practicum opportunities with The Center for LGBTQIA+ Student Success to apply for Spring 2018.

Students interested in applying must be enrolled in a full-time graduate degree program at Iowa State University and have at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA. Graduate students of any academic focus are invited to apply.  

For The Center for LGBTQIA+ Student Success – or simply The Center – graduate practicum students play an integral role throughout the semester.

“Because we’re a smaller staff, there are just some projects and initiatives that we wouldn’t have been able to do if we did not have a graduate practicum student at the time,” said The Center’s Assistant Director Clare Lemke.

An example of one particular instance would be with a program held in the past two springs named “Mix. Mingle. Munch.”

The goal of the program was to focus on populations that typically don’t get to hold space on campus according to Lemke, such as asexual-identifying students or transgender and non-gender conforming students.

Lemke said that being a graduate practicum student at The Center often means working hands-on with students – and often, at the drop of a hat.

“The Center can be fast-paced,” Lemke said. “Things here can kind of change on a dime … Something might get disrupted because we’re a small staff, we serve students [and] student situations come up. Sometimes we just have to kind of go with the flow.”

For The Center, this flexibility could be considered key.

“We look to our graduate students to use their creativity and their enthusiasm and their autonomy,” Lemke said. “We encourage their ideas in the conversation.”

Practicum students may arrange to receive credit for their work. Past work experience, Lemke said they may gain insight in how to incorporate serving diverse populations in the future.

“Working here, you get some insight to what LGBTQIA+ students needs are and some more insight to how that might come into play in your future work,” Lemke said.

According to Lemke, practicum students make all the difference.

“Having graduate practicum students allows us to do our work better, faster and with greater depth and nuance,” Lemke said.

Applications for Spring 2018 graduate practicum students close Friday, November 17, but opportunities continue throughout the summer and fall. Application updates are posted on The Center’s website as well as social media.