Internships, fellowships help Panthers make their way in the world

The FIU family has myriad reasons to feel the pride and chief among them are the university’s students.

Recently, nine Panthers received full scholarships to travel to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Oct. 20-22 26^th annual national conference of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), an organization that represents more than 450 institutions committed to Hispanic higher education success in the United States and abroad.

This marks the first time any FIU student has received such a scholarship from HACU.

The Panthers’ prize packages include travel expenses, conference registration, lodging and meals. Congratulations go out to Abid Ali, Bianca Bonilla, Danielle Cohen, Edward Delgado, Jessica Ellis, Karen Fernandez, Maria Martinez, Michael Pedroza and Carmen Rodriguez. They also will participate in special student track workshops and a career fair while in D.C.

“Without doubt, HACU is one of the nation’s champions of Hispanic success in higher education,” said Hilarion Martinez, FIU’s senior international officer. “Our students will have unparalleled opportunities in terms of potential internships and even possible careers. I will be in attendance and, of course, I will ensure that they meet some of our nation’s leaders who will also be at the conference.”

Lanny Picon and Christina Urbina also will travel to D.C. for the conference. Picon, an FIU Dietetics and Nutrition student, and Urbina, who’s pursuing a degree in environmental studies, will participate thanks to the support of a Health Sciences Institute Florida-Caribbean Consortium for Agricultural Education and Hispanic Workforce Development grant funded by the USDA.

For more information on HACU’s national internship program, click here.

These Panthers aren’t the only ones on the path to excellence. Keep reading and find out who else is giving FIU more reasons to feel proud this academic year.

A Panther in Tallahassee

Cici Battle is a former president of the Biscayne Bay Campus Government Association.

Christin “Cici” Battle ’11 was chosen as a member of the eighth class of the nine-month Gubernatorial Fellows Program. She was among 12 students selected from Florida for the honor.

In announcing the class, Gov. Rick Scott said, “I applaud these students for their outstanding academic, leadership and service-oriented accomplishments. This will provide them with on-the-job leadership training for successful careers in the public or private sector.”

Since August, the class has been working in the Executive Office of the Governor or in the governor’s agencies, depending on their area of study. “I’ve been placed in the Department of Education, in the Division of Florida Colleges,” said Battle, who is continuing graduate studies in higher education administration at FIU through distance learning.

“I report directly to the vice chancellors and I am given special projects from the chancellor. My projects vary depending on the priority of the moment, but they are all high-profile things.”

For more information on the Gubernatorial Fellowship Program, click here.

If Battle has anything to say to her fellow Panthers interested in this fellowship that’s this: “Research, research, research [this opportunity]. If anyone is interested about this experience, I urge them to contact me via email or Facebook.”

Applications for the 2013-’14 class of fellows will be available online from Oct. 1 through March 8, 2013.