Stepping outside the classroom into the working world of post-college life, Shippensburg University students have gained another chance to jump-start their careers.

Orrstown Bank signed a partnership pact with SU on Thursday, August 28, that will give four to six students the opportunity to start a paid internship with the bank.

Located on East King Street, Orrstown Bank will be offering positions in fields such as data analysis, public relations, operations and management.

Justin English, director of business internship in the Grove College of Business, hopes to open the application within the next week. The process includes an in-person interview with leadership members from Orrstown Bank.

The internship will last one academic year and students can expect to be working close to 20 hours a week. Undergraduate juniors and seniors can apply for the various positions.

“These experiences then come back to the classroom for analysis and problem-solving with faculty and fellow students,” Harpster said.

Ben Wallace, executive vice president for technology and operations at the bank, explained that SU interns will get to help put together products and services for the customers of 2015.

“They’ll [the students] get real world experience in a banking environment,” Thomas Quinn Jr., president and CEO of Orrstown Bank, said.

Orrstown Bank and SU began discussing the possibility of an internship about a year ago when Wallace introduced the idea. “We are very excited to begin this relationship with Shippensburg,” Wallace said, “If we do this right, the students will be developing products, testing these products, and improving them for our customers.”

Through this partnership, Orrstown Bank is hopeful that students will be able to provide a fresh perspective to areas like online and mobile banking. Out-of-the-box thinkers add to the strength of the company, Quinn said.

“Mobile and online technologies are some of the most important technology areas within banks today –and who better to help banks innovate and mature these solutions than talent[ed] university students?” Wallace said.

Students involved in the internship will get to work at the pace of a real business and learn how to work in a collaborative environment. English will help students track their internship progress and evaluate their experiences.

At a recent press conference, the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Barbara Lyman, said, “I felt it was propitious moment when Orrstown Bank representatives and others first gathered in 2013 to discuss the possibility of a new model for involving our students in experiential learning by establishing a program that was more than a standard internship agreement.”

Orrstown Bank and SU hope to see this internship program continue in the following years.

Interested applicants should contact Justin English by email at jmenglish@ship.edu or phone at 717-477-1351.

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