AAPD Internship Programs: Spend Your Summer in DC!

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Each year, the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) hosts two Summer Internship Programs for College Students with Disabilities in Washington, DC, providing paid travel to and from DC, paid fully-accessible housing, and living stipends. These programs are generously funded by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF) and Microsoft Corporation.

AAPD is now accepting applications for the 2010 Summer Internship programs. (Link to applications for 2010 Summer Internships Instructions Form) The same application form is used for both the MEAF-AAPD Congressional Internship and the Microsoft-AAPD Federal IT Internship programs. Applications for both 2010 AAPD summer internship programs are now being accepted until 5PM, EST on January 8, 2010. More information on the AAPD Summer Internship programs is below and in the application form. Thank you for your interest!

Summer Congressional

Summer Information Technology (I.T.)

The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) are proud to offer, for the eighth consecutive summer, a congressional internship program for undergraduate students with disabilities.

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For the seventh consecutive summer, Microsoft Corporation and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) are proud to offer a summer internship program designed specifically for college and university students with disabilities interested in careers in information technology.

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PAST PLACEMENTS INCLUDE:

• Senator Barack Obama (D-IL)
• Senator Hilary Clinton (D-NY)
• Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS)
• Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA)
• Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
• House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
• Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI)

• US Coast Guard
• Corporation for National and Community Service
• Department of Homeland Security
• US Patent and Trade Office
• National Science Foundation
• US Department of Transportation
• Transportation Security Administration
• Federal Aviation Administration

Eligibility Requirements:

• Any currently-enrolled undergraduate college students who self-identify as individuals with any type of disability are invited to apply. You will not be required to disclose your specific disability; however, your application for this program will signify that you consider yourself a person with a disability. PLEASE NOTE: This is a program run specifically for college students with disabilities by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the nation’s largest cross-disability membership organization. Those selected for this program will be involved in various disability-focused activities and associated with AAPD and fellow Interns with all types of disabilities throughout the program.

• Applicants must be currently enrolled in any undergraduate educational institution, pursing degrees of any type and must have completed at least four semesters of academic credit (more than 48 credits) with at least one additional academic semester (at least 12 credits) to complete after the conclusion of this internship. UNFORTUNATELY: Graduate students and graduating seniors are NOT eligible for the AAPD Internship Programs.

• Applicants must be U.S. citizens with proof of citizenship.

• Applicants chosen for the AAPD Internship Programs release all information contained in their Application for use on the AAPD website and in public press releases, including releases to the Program Funders and potential employers.

What Happens Next:

• Completed applications received by AAPD before 5:00 PM EST, Friday, January 8, 2010 will be collected and reviewed by our Internship Review Team.

• Semi-Finalists will be contacted for telephone interviews on or before January 15, 2010.

• Finalists will be contacted for finalist telephone interviews on or before January 29, 2010.

• Eight (8) interns will be selected for the Congressional Internship program and ten (10) interns will be selected for the IT Internship program and notified in early February, 2010.

• Interns selected for these programs are expected to assist AAPD in securing their placements in Congressional Offices or Federal Agencies. This is a collaborative process where each Intern may be asked to contact and/or interview with a possible placement.

• NO placement guarantees are given and Interns must notify AAPD of any offers of internship placement BEFORE accepting them.

• AAPD Interns must attend an Orientation week in Washington, D.C. the week after the Memorial Day holiday (with limited exceptions for conflicts with academic schedules).

• AAPD will reimburse each Intern for his/her round-trip travel to and from Washington, D.C.

• AAPD Interns receive living stipends to be disbursed in four (4) installments throughout the internship summer.

• AAPD Interns receive accessible apartment-style housing, free-of-charge, in the dormitories of George Washington University and will room with other interns in these programs (with limited exceptions for disability-related)