Lawrence Today magazine, Fall 2002
Although the college does not offer courses in applied business subjects, Lawrence students are presented with learning opportunities beyond the classroom that provide an exposure to business practices and allow them to discover how their liberal arts education relates to the workplace.
Each academic year and during the summer break, a small number of interested students take advantage of internship opportunities in the private sector, supplementing their Lawrence education with hands-on practical business experience. In recent years, Lawrence interns have been placed with Morgan Stanley Dean Whitter, Associated Bank of Appleton, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Merrill Lynch, Hoffman Construction Company, Northwestern Mutual Life, Fox River Paper Company, and Johnson Controls of Milwaukee, as well as other companies in Northeast Wisconsin. Even more use summer employment to expand their educational horizons.
In the late 1990s, students interested in China had the unique educational opportunity of interning abroad through a Lawrence program underwritten by the U.S. Department of Defense's National Security Education Program (NSEP). Launched in 1997, "Building Bridges Through Practical Chinese," provided Lawrentians with an opportunity to participate in internship programs established by U.S. companies that have operations in China. The Building Bridges initiative, one of only a handful of college or university-directed business internship programs with China at that time, was one of the first of its kind designed exclusively for liberal arts college students.
Interning with Kohler Company's office in Shanghai, Manitowoc Equipment Company's joint venture that manufactures ice machines in Hangzhou, Kimberly-Clark's personal care division office in Beijing, the Appleton Mills branch office in Kunshan, or other U.S. companies in China, interns in the program spent eight weeks immersed in China's corporate and professional community. Several graduates of the program leveraged their new-found interests and skills into employment in the private sector following graduation. Although funding for the NSEP program has expired, the recent Freeman Foundation grant will provide current Lawrence students with new opportunities in China and Japan.
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