VCU broadens reach of Transforming Federal Work-Study Internship Program

By

Buoyed by early success, Virginia Commonwealth University is expanding the reach of an initiative that builds on a federal program in which students earn money for college while developing work skills.

For decades, the Federal Work-Study aid program has helped students with financial need earn money for living and school-related expenses by working in approved jobs on or off campus. Two years ago, VCU expanded the roles to include internships, and its Transforming Federal Work-Study Internship Program is now poised to broaden its reach.

TFWS admitted more than 70 work-study-eligible students in each of its first two years, but this year, it will admit up to 150 students across more than 90 unique internships. Participation covers a full academic year, with earnings up to $2,000 per semester, and students will be supervised by more than 70 VCU staff, faculty and community partners.

The program "gives students invaluable experience," said Valerie Sutton, lead TFWS internship coordinator in VCU Career Services, which oversees the program. "They can get an internship in their career field or close to it. It can also open up a career field. We've had a lot of folks that expressed interest in going into library sciences because of their experience with the internship program. The program is great for opening a pathway."

The TFWS program, currently made possible through funds granted by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, is now planning to increase opportunities across and even beyond campus.

"We learned from the first year of the program," Sutton said. "What we have seen is an increase in the students' ability and confidence in the program's eight competencies."

Nora Bloch, collections care librarian and conservator at VCU Libraries, enjoys seeing students find a passion for library science or conservation.

"We even had an intern who recently started a conservation internship at Colonial Williamsburg with plans for graduate school next year," she said. "We make sure to support these specific aspirations whenever they arise."

Bloch and Liza Hazelwood, lead collections care technician, provide apprentice-style training in book repair, collections care and conservation while intentionally creating a "'culture of care' where interns can feel safe to learn, make mistakes and grow as professionals," Bloch said.

The library "truly couldn't function the same way without them," she said of the interns.

Keyouna Richardson said she has a better understanding of social media through her internship in the Division of Student Affairs as part of TFWS.

"The program is more than I thought it would be. It helped me learn the 'why' behind certain things that we do in content creation," said Richardson, a senior majoring in mass communications in the Robertson School of Media and Culture in the College of Humanities and Sciences.

Richardson applied to become a content creator when she started the program in fall semester last year.

"I'm loving it," she said. "I've been working on videography, photography and graphic designs and have learned about brand guidelines and strategy."

In the past two years, TFWS interns have bolstered the efforts of the Division of Student Affairs to connect with students on campus.

"They are helping tell the VCU story through a student lens," said Josh Skillman, director for communications and marketing for the division. "They set up social media content, and for a lot of projects, our interns take the project from beginning to end."

He noted the impact on the division's social media accounts.

"They have generated more than 5.8 million views on content they've created for the DSA, RecWell, Residential Life and Housing, and University Commons Instagram accounts this past year. For DSA Instagram alone, they moved views from 200,000 two years ago to 2.98 million views for 2025-26," Skillman said. "I think that is incredible."

This year, his office will oversee five TFWS interns, all of whom worked in the office last year.

"I meet with them each week," Skillman said. "I work hard to help them understand how they can use what they do today in the future. I also want them to know that someone is invested in them and cares for them."

In the two years Devan Wagner has interned in DSA, the junior has strengthened his expertise in videography, photography and social media.

"In this position, I have not only expanded my skills, but I have also learned how to work in a team," said Wagner, who is majoring in mass communications with a concentration in broadcast journalism.

Richardson encourages students to take advantage of the TFWS program.

"Sign up even if you are not experienced in a role but you want to learn about it," she said. "I didn't realize how easy it was to get help at VCU, but I also never asked."

The TFWS Internship Program is signing up students as well as supervisors. Interested students with a work-study award as part of their financial aid package can explore opportunities on Handshake this summer. Applications close Aug. 9.