[NFBMD] FW: 2019 Summer Internship Program Changes

[Powers, Terry (NIH/NCI) [E]]

-----Original Message-----
From: Milgram, Sharon (NIH/OD) [E] 
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2018 12:17 PM
To: NIH-STAFF at LIST.NIH.GOV
Subject: 2019 Summer Internship Program Changes

Dear NIH Colleague,

At the request of NIH leadership, and with the approval of the SDs, the NIH Office of Intramural Training & Education (OITE) has made some significant changes to the NIH Summer Internship Program (SIP) for summer 2019. I know that many of you talk with neighbors, friends, and others interested in SIP, so I want to take a moment to explain the most important changes. They affect program eligibility, the intern selection process, and the nature of the program itself for participating high school students. Changes affecting our older interns are minimal.

Beginning in 2019, summer interns must be seventeen by June 15th of the internship year. Individuals who are in high school must meet two additional criteria: they must be either juniors or seniors, and, if they will not be 18 by June 15th of the internship year, they must, at the time of application, reside within 40 miles of the NIH campus on which they hope to intern.

High school summer interns will be selected by an IC selection committee, rather than by individual principal investigators (PIs). Each IC will appoint a High School Summer Coordinator and devise a process for making summer intern selections. With limited exceptions, summer interns will not be appointed to ICs in which a parent or guardian works.

Finally, to ensure that all high school summer interns are ready to benefit from the internship experience, they will begin as a cohort on one of two summer start dates (June 13th or 24th) and will attend a required orientation prior to joining their research groups. My office has developed and piloted a full-day orientation for high school summer interns which was very well received in 2018. In addition, OITE will provide a summer curriculum focused on the development of scientific and professional skills and on college readiness. 

I realize that these are significant changes and that they will require all of us to rethink the summer experience of our high school interns. I also appreciate that this will be a confusing year for high school applicants and their teachers. If you talk with interested high school students or their families, please let them know that the eligibility criteria, selection process, and the nature of the summer program for high school interns have changed and refer them to the new High School SIP (HS-SIP) webpage (https://www.training.nih.gov/programs/hs-sip) for further information.  

Best,
Sharon

Dr. Sharon L. Milgram
Director, Office of Intramural Training & Education NIH, Office of the Director Building 2, Room 2 E04 Bethesda, MD 20899 milgrams at od.nih.gov