Research Intern – The City of Manchester
We are currently selecting a summer intern. Apply now!
Do your career plans revolve around a commitment to public service? Are you interested in subject areas related to urban planning, public health or social work? The City of Manchester, NH, the largest city in the State of New Hampshire, has an opening for an intern in the Department of Planning and Community Development.
This student intern will work with the lead hazard abatement program on a project of his or her choosing. The lead hazard abatement program is run by city staff from Planning & Community Development, and the Manchester Health Department.
(Additional interns may be considered in GIS, zoning and growth management - please inquire via email if that is your interest area.)
Example internship subject areas:
Public Health & Healthy Homes: Is housing health care? What is the public impact of having no code requirements for rental homes vs having robust code compliance? How does a municipality improve its housing stock? What is the role or duty of local government to provide healthy housing?
Fair Housing: What is the fair housing landscape in New Hampshire?
Construction Management: How do you manage a program with complex construction needs, inclusive of rehousing at-risk tenants, working with large landlords, and required competitive bids?
Childhood Lead Poisoning: New Hampshire has some of the oldest housing stock in the nation – are we doing enough to prevent childhood lead poisoning?
Early childhood development: What are the outcomes for children who were exposed to lead hazards? What additional factors might be affecting children living in unhealthy homes?
Government: What initiatives at the federal/state/local level are being proposed? What’s working? What’s innovative?
Urban Planning: How does a city manage older housing stock? Do demolitions spread lead dust hazards? How do we balance objectives such as maintaining historical buildings and downtown aesthetics while still responding to the needs of the future?
Our internship program is built around a project that will benefit your future career. We seek self-starting interns who can propose a project and see it through in one semester or quarter (based on your class schedule).
This is not an “office internship,” where a student comes for 10-15 hours a week and performs odd jobs or small tasks. Instead, the intern will drive his or her project, and will regularly meet with city staff to develop and complete this project.
Your final project could be a research paper, presentation, multi-media project, web site, or data set that will add to your student project portfolio, and will help you towards a major goal, such as completing a senior thesis, applying to graduate school, or entering a career in public service after graduation. If you have a different type of project in mind, let us know – we can be flexible based on your needs.
Our most recent intern completed a qualitative program evaluation, and was recently accepted to graduate school. He attended construction bid walks, senate bill hearings, and stakeholder meetings; reviewed program materials; and, interviewed public health officials, contractors and Planning staff.
An applicant should have a strong interest in working in public service, social welfare, urban planning or public health in his/her future career path.
Students with documented coursework completed in any of the following areas are encouraged to apply: sociology, political science, public health, public policy, urban planning, or environmental sciences. This internship will be for up to 10 hours/week, and will run concurrently with your class schedule for the semester or quarter.
Please submit a one-page cover letter summarizing 1) your interest in this internship and 2) career paths you are considering. Also include a one-page resume which includes relevant coursework and/or projects, and at least one professional or educational reference. Your sponsoring faculty member or career service director may serve as reference.
Interns do not need to have any prior professional work experience. However, please do cite in your resume any experience you have working as a volunteer, working on student activities, odd jobs, or other personal experiences which illustrate responsibility and accountability.
Applications are due one month before your course starts. We will review materials and contact applicants for phone screens. Please submit your application materials to Lead Hazard Program Manager Danielle Burhop, dburhop@manchesternh.gov . If you do not receive an acknowledgment of receipt of application materials within 48 business hours, please email again to ensure we have received them.
Required application materials:
- Cover Letter;
- Resume;
- One reference we can contact.
About The City of Manchester Department of Planning and Community Development: Our department oversees land use and development in The City of Manchester. We work continually to balance the rights of individual property owners with public safety and the best interests of the community in mind.
About The Community Improvement Program (CIP): CIP works with stakeholders to establish overall community development priorities. We coordinate improvement projects in The City of Manchester by providing streamlined accounting procedures which maximize federal and state dollars for needed projects, and provide for long-range planning of capital needs.
About The Lead Hazard Reduction Program (LHRD): The Manchester LHRD program is funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). We work with health departments and property owners to locate under-income families who are living in housing with lead hazard risks. We provide inspection and construction services for Manchester single-family housing units to abate lead hazards to prevent lead poisoning in young children. The LHRD program has repaired hundreds of Manchester housing units over the last decade. For more information, visit www.leadsafemanchester.com .
Please note that after interviews are complete, selected interns will fill out the City of Manchester Intern/Volunteer forms; provide documentation of internship program requirements for course credit; and, may go through the City’s background check prior to his or her start date.
This posting is good through February 2018.