Harrisburg – Lucas Smith of Chambersburg is working for the state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs as part of a 15-week internship sponsored by Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education.
Smith is a senior political science major and English minor at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. He is one of nine students participating in The Harrisburg Internship Semester (THIS) program, which provides students the opportunity to work in all areas of state government while earning a full semester’s worth of credits. THIS invites students from each of the State System universities to participate.
Smith is the son of Mike and Heather Smith and a 2015 graduate of Chambersburg Area High School. He and the other students participating in the program also will attend several academic seminars during their fall semester internship. Each of the students will complete an individualized research project as part of the program’s requirements.
More than 600 students from the State System universities have participated in THIS since the program began in 1989, each gaining valuable insight into the workings of state government at the policy-making level. Interns have worked with dozens of state agencies, as well as in the offices of the governor, the speaker of the House of Representatives and the attorney general.
State System students interested in participating in THIS in a future semester may obtain information on the program by contacting their individual campus coordinator or their university’s cooperative or internship office, or by calling the Dixon University Center at (717) 720-4089. More information on the program also is available at:www.passhe.edu/this.
