Photos by David Crenshaw

The Provident internship program proved to be a success in all corners. From left are, back row: Wayne Pirtle, associate vice president; Ted Reynolds; Dave Fiacco, senior vice president; Dana Powers; Bob Best, CIO; front row: Kathy Owen, vice president; Nimitt Chudasama; and Xinmei Guo.

Wanting to help numerous clients experiencing a shortage of employees, Steve Ball, president of Ball Consulting Services in Nashville, attended Vanderbilt's Internship Fair last spring in hopes of piloting a summer internship program. Working with Computer Science Professor Larry Dowdy, he hired six engineering student interns, initiating what appears to be a promising relationship among his company; a client, Provident Companies, Inc.; and the School of Engineering.
"All of my customers have the same problem: finding good skilled people. Provident currently has 70 openings in their computer division," says Ball. In this tough market, Provident, a Fortune 50 company in Chattanooga and the leading disability carrier in North America, competes for talent with such technological giants as Microsoft, IBM, and EDS.
He approached Vanderbilt because "it is a good quality program," a fact he learned firsthand from his sister, Lisa Ball Rigsby, '94, and his brother, Brian, '90, who is currently working on his doctorate. Ball limited the program this year to six students and one company, but plans to involve more students and companies in subsequent summers.
"An internship program is like a feeding cycle. Students with work experience are worth a lot more money, and higher starting salaries allow Vanderbilt to recruit better students. Provident, in turn, benefits because they can see how the students work and are able to attract good employees. The six interns we hired this past summer are enthusiastic, hardworking, and like to learn," Ball says. "Those are the same traits I try to instill in my senior level people."

Mentor Randy Robinson, standing, discusses a project with Ted Reynolds.

Although the program was a last-minute venture this year for Provident, their concrete expectations of the interns and the strong relationships forged between the students and Provident mentors made the program "wildly successful," says Dave Fiacco, Provident's senior vice president. "We had real business problems that needed real business solutions. We felt given the right guidance, the interns could bring solutions to the table. And they did bring solutions that will have tremendous positive bottom line impact on our company."
"Much of the interns' work centered around Internet development, which is new to us," says Kathy Owen, vice president. "We had a small bed of expertise that needed to be expanded quickly, and we selected the internship program as a way to do additional development. Everyone exposed to the interns gained a high degree of appreciation for what can be made to happen in a short period of time."
The students worked on some big initiatives, including one that will save the company $1 million a year. "They took a paper- and labor-intensive project and reengineered the expense out of it," says Bob Best, CIO. "The students' commitment to the job was superb. We provided them an environment that wasn't highly structured, and it worked out very nicely."
The program also benefitted the company by challenging its employees to think in new ways. "The interns brought new ideas and different perspectives, keeping us on our toes and making for a lively summer," adds Wayne Pirtle, associate vice president.
Three mentors, Randy Robinson, Mike Mason, and Jason Butcher--known for their work on "bleeding edge" projects--were paired with students Xinmei Guo, Ted Reynolds, Dana Powers, Nimitt Chudasama, Kofi Dadzie, and Mark Korbeith, ranging in level from sophomore to graduate student.
"It is amazing how quickly the interns caught on to what the problems were and how willing they were to find answers," says Butcher, associate systems programmer. "Rather than just learning for themselves, they helped teach each other and worked toward a common goal. They began to see how our business operates and that what they did had an effect."
"The students' flexibility allowed us to use them on different projects. They could learn a new computer language and move on to a project quickly," adds Mason, senior systems programmer.
The program familiarized Provident with what college students know and don't know, "but more importantly, it gave us an idea about what kind of students Vanderbilt turns out," says Robinson, director of application development. "We are hoping some of the interns will become employees with us once they graduate."
The students gained from the internships not only a firm grasp on their engineering course work but exposure to the work world, which they found invaluable.
"It focused my skills and interests," says Powers, "making me ask myself, 'This is the real world, how do I want to position myself out there?'"
Reynolds, who earlier was interested in the technical side of computers, found his focus switching to business applications during the program. "This experience was so valuable I think the School of Engineering should make internships mandatory."
Guo, a graduate student, remains interested in computer science technology, but enjoyed learning more about business. "The technology at a company is driven by its business. You have to know what is going on in business and what is good and bad for business."
The youngest intern, Chudasama, is interested in management. "I want to understand the technology and then manage the technology. The internship affirmed the direction I am taking."
"The program fits in nicely with our recruiting goals, and we plan to continue it," says Owen. "We have been wanting to develop closer relationships with universities and do more than just the typical recruiting calls, to be involved earlier in the students' lives."

The interns relax in one of the Provident corporate apartments at the end of the day.

Provident went the extra mile in helping the students adjust to working life by arranging for them to stay in their corporate apartments. "We realized housing would be an issue because of their brief time here and their unfamiliarity with Chattanooga," she says. "Our role was to remove the obstacles so we could make the program work. We didn't want their focus on 'Where do I live?' We wanted them to get in and be part of the work environment."
If your company is interested in hiring Vanderbilt engineering interns, please contact either Robert Stammer, assistant dean, at (615) 343-8061 or Jason Aldrich at the Career Center at (615) 322-2750.

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