A Micro-Internship is a short-term project that can typically be completed within 10-40 hours and is due within a few days to a few weeks. These projects require no on-boarding and can be completed by a college student with minimal instruction. These are important but low-risk tasks that aren’t the best use of your time.

 

TU PATHS: Professional Access Through Hands-on Student Experiences projects must be scoped to take the student approximately 15 hours of work to complete.

Students in the College of Liberal Arts and/or the College of Fine Arts & Communication are eligible to complete one TU PATHS: CLA, CoFAC & GenOne Students project. The majors within the two targeted TU colleges include:

Fine Arts & Communication: Acting; Art + Design; Art Education; Art History; Communication Studies; Dance Performance & Choreography; Film, Audio, and Media Arts; Mass Communication; Music; Music Education; Theatre Arts

TU PATHS: CLA, CoFAC &GenOne Students is part of the SIGNALS Program, an initiative of pilot Micro-Internship Programs powered by Parker Dewey. The funding for this program is provided by a grant that Parker Dewey received from the GitLab Foundation. 

 

Thanks to this generous grant, there is no cost for qualifying organizations hosting eligible Towson University students on 15 hour projects.

The student receives $300 upon completion of the project. Students are paid by Parker Dewey upon completion of the project.

If you have a longer project in mind, please contact Parker Dewey via the form below.

The Skills-Informed Gateway for Networking, Access, Learning & Success (SIGNALS) Program is a series of Micro-Internship pilot programs being run by postsecondary institutions nationwide. This program is generously funded by a grant Parker Dewey has received from the GitLab Foundation. The Foundation is primarily focused on initiatives that have the greatest relative impact on an individual's earning potential.

The SIGNALS Program is focused on supporting initiatives that will:

• Support students who may not otherwise have been able to access paid, career enhancing opportunities
• Engaging employers who actively recruit and hire college students and recent graduates
• Increase students’ confidence in their ability to get hired for their target job

In short, it’s easy as Parker Dewey handles it all.  No HR burdens. No conversion fees. No questions about ownership or worries about confidentiality.

 

• Employment: Micro-Interns are not your employees, contractors, interns, temps, or freelancers. Similar to working with a consulting firm or any other service provider, you are engaging Parker Dewey LLC to complete the assignment, and each individual you select is a contractor or employee of Parker Dewey. You can still directly interact with them as much or little as you would like, and always have the opportunity to hire them directly without any costs or fees.
• Liability: We’re mission-driven and believe in the power of creating opportunities. That said, we take on all the liability. Not happy with the work product? We’ll give you a full refund or find an alternate Career Launcher. 
• Work Product: All work product is owned by you. 
• Confidentiality: While most projects involve public-facing information of a non-sensitive nature, both Parker Dewey and all Career Launchers sign strict NDAs to protect your information. In addition to the standard provisions, the students understand that any violation of these agreements would risk opportunities for future employment or could be a violation of their school's honor code.
• Background Checks: Given the short-term nature and structure of these assignments, we do not conduct background checks. While companies are always welcome to conduct a background check directly, the nature of the specific assignments and lack of a direct relationship with the individual who is selected has caused most organizations to defer the background check until after a Micro-Internship is completed and a student is offered a traditional internship or full-time role.

Micro-Internships are not meant to replace traditional internship programs but rather complement and even supplement them. Due to their short-term nature, Micro-Internships can be used year-round to find on-demand project support while simultaneously allowing you to engage and evaluate potential talent.

Micro-Internships can be either on-site or virtual, depending on the specific requirements of the project. We typically suggest remote, as this provides more flexibility and accessibility.

The project manager will be a member of your team, whether that be a hiring manager, team lead, or another employee. At the start of the project, they will clarify specific expectations and share the information/materials necessary for your Micro-Intern to complete the project. From there, they can engage the student in whatever way works best, whether that be email, Zoom, etc. Because students on Parker Dewey have core skills and are highly motivated to exceed expectations, they require minimal management.