Governor Recognizes State’s Inaugural Transformation Internship Program Participants

News Release from Office of the Governor May 6, 2013

HONOLULU – Upon the completion of the state’s first Transformation Internship Program (TIP) session, Gov. Neil Abercrombie recognized the spring 2013 participants in a special ceremony held today in Executive Chambers. The innovative internship program provides Hawaii undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to work alongside innovators within state government and gain hands-on experience in a wide range of areas.

“TIP represents an investment in those who have likewise invested in themselves through higher learning,” Gov. Abercrombie said. “This public-private partnership offers a unique opportunity for college and university students to gain training and experience while taking part in our ongoing transformation of state government. The students emerge ready and empowered to take an active and leading role in shaping Hawaii’s future, particularly as they begin their respective careers in an increasingly technological global marketplace.”

At the ceremony, the Governor presented certificates of appreciation to more than 20 students able to attend with friends and family (A total of 45 students participated in the spring session). He also recognized state Chief Information Officer (CIO) Sanjeev “Sonny” Bhagowalia, Deputy CIO of Business Transformation Randy Baldemor, Department of Human Resources Development (DHRD) Deputy Director Leila Kagawa, and Enterprise Honolulu President and CEO Pono Shim for their part in the session’s success.

In December 2012, the state Office of Information Management Technology (OIMT), led by Bhagowalia, first announced the internship program in partnership with DHRD and Enterprise Honolulu, which provided featured speakers to enhance the program.

In addition to OIMT and DHRD, participating state agencies included the Departments of Agriculture, Public Safety and Taxation, with students participating from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Kapiolani Community College, Brigham Young University – Hawaii, Hawaii Pacific University, and University of Phoenix.

Through the program, students had the opportunity to:

• earn academic credit while gaining “real-world” experiences;
• participate in meaningful work assignments relevant to academic area of study;
• apply business, communications, public administration, information technology, and engineering classroom concepts to work assignments;
• be exposed to public service careers; and
• develop a network of professional contacts for future opportunities.

For example, students interning at OIMT were supervised by Baldemor and worked with program teams to evaluate challenges and assist in the implementation of the State of Hawaii’s IT Transformation Plan improvements throughout the state’s various departments. They interacted with, met and interviewed state employees, as well as summarize research results and present findings through presentations, reports, white papers, dashboards, and scorecards.

TIP is open to students in a wide range of majors including business administration, management information systems, computer science, social sciences (research focus), political science, public administration, human resource development, communications, engineering and other related fields.

The TIP Summer 2013 Session starts in June, with applications being accepted through June 8. Applicants must be currently enrolled as a graduate student or undergraduate student with junior or senior status, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher, and have the ability to work well in a team with a broad range of stakeholders (e.g. state employees, outside consultants and private organizations) and communicate effectively at multiple levels. Applications can be submitted online at: www.dhrd.hawaii.gov

View images from today's ceremony >>> here

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