The University of Mary Washington has received a $250,000 grant from SCHEV – the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia – to expand paid and credit-bearing student internships in collaboration with Virginia employers. The grant is part of the Fund for Excellence and Innovation, also known as the Virginia Talent + Opportunity Partnership.

The grant will support a program director who will oversee the establishment and operation of the Rappahannock Work & Learn Collaborative (RWLC), serving the Fredericksburg area, the Northern Neck and the Middle Peninsula, said UMW Associate Provost for Career and Workforce Kimberly Young.

UMW and the RWLC will lead the effort to connect employers to students and increase the number of high-quality internships and other work-based learning opportunities in Go Virginia Region 6. Employers, community partners, K-12 school divisions and postsecondary institutions will advise the RWLC and serve as an employer network. Read more.

The University of Mary Washington is a premier, selective public liberal arts and sciences university in Virginia, highly respected for its commitment to academic excellence, strong undergraduate liberal arts and sciences program, and dedication to life-long learning. The university, with a total enrollment of more than 4,000, features colleges of business, education and arts and sciences, and three campuses, including a residential campus in Fredericksburg, Va., a second one in nearby Stafford and a third in Dahlgren, Va., which serves as a center of development of educational and research partnerships between the Navy, higher education institutions and the region’s employers.