Friday was the last day for approximately 600 students who have been participating in the temporary employment program at the base. They have been serving as paid interns in varied jobs, including laboratory assistants, photographers and administrative aides.
The program was open to students in high school, technical or vocational school, college, graduate or professional school. The termination does not affect students employed through the separate Student Career Experience Program, commonly referred to as the cooperative education program, whose participants are not considered temporary employees, base officials said.
“The Air Force recognizes the invaluable contributions of our temporary employees, but also recognizes the fiscal challenges under which all services are operating,” Wright-Patterson officials said in a statement.
The loss of the temporary employment program ends a workforce development opportunity in which students interested in science, engineering or similar careers could get a taste of working at Wright-Patterson, while base officials could get to see potential future employees at work, community leaders said.
“It’s disappointing,” said Scott Coale, a retired Air Force officer from Wright-Patterson who is president DaytonDefense, the regional association of defense contracting companies. “It’s one of the tools in their tool kit to generate interest from folks about what goes on at the base.”
Wright-Patterson has been active in working with local schools to encourage students interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, said Deb Norris, vice president of workforce development and corporate services at Sinclair Community College.
The end of the base’s student temporary jobs program should motivate the community to find creative ways to provide similar work experiences, such as companies that have work at the base and could provide internship opportunities there, Norris said.
Sinclair itself has an all-time high 1,753 students engaged in internships or co-operative work arrangements this fall, school officials said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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