As of February 2016, the LGMI has been suspended due to lack of student interest and competing academic priorities. ICMA will explore new ways to generate interest and opportunities for undergraduates in the months ahead. Thank you Dr. Rob Baker for your years of effort in supporting the profession!
What is the LGMI?
The eight-week program combines an unpaid, undergraduate internship with a class/seminar component. Students from Wittenberg University work as interns in a host local government and are given one or more projects to complete by the end of the program. Onsite Wittenberg faculty advise students on their projects and required coursework and students attend class two nights per week and participate in local government meetings.
2013 LGMI Program Explores Community
The 2013 program was hosted by the City and County of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The students were placed in various departments of city and county government, given 2-3 projects to complete during the period, took a seminar in local government administration and finance twice weekly, and attended local government meetings. We also took two extended weekend excursions, one to the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore, SD, and the other one to the Milwaukee Music Festival.
2011 LGMI Program Get Hands-On at the Fire Station
As part of their initial orientation to the city of Amery, and city government departments, the interns were given a tour of the fire station and had a conversation with Chief Darryl Christensen. He has been in the fire service for 23 years, and was appointed Amery’s 15th chief in January of 2010. The Department is a volunteer department that not only serves the City of Amery, but the surrounding townships of Alden, Black Rock, and Lincoln. One of the smallest departments around with a ladder truck, the Chief’s goal is have the best equipment and training possible for his firefighters.
River Falls, Wisconsin Hosted 2010 LGMI
The city of River Falls, Wisconsin (Scot Simpson, city administrator), hosted the 2010 Local Government Management Interns. A group of undergraduate interns from Wittenberg University (Springfield, Ohio), traveled to River Falls to work on a variety of hands-on local government projects and complete coursework as well.
2008 LGMI Program Closes After Successful Return to Florida
Fernandina Beach, Florida (pop. 10,500, Mike Czymbor, city manager), hosted the 2008 LGMI Program. Fernandina Beach was the host city for the Wittenberg interns in 1997, and they were excited to return 10 years later.
2007 LGMI Program Goes Out With a Blog
In May 2007, the city of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin (pop. 13,000; Dan Elsass, city administrator), and Eau Claire County, Wisconsin (pop. 93,100; Tom McCarty, county administrator) cohosted the 2007 LGMI Program.
2005 Pilot Year a Great Success
The town of Meredith, New Hampshire (pop. 5900; Carol Granfield, town manager), served as the pilot local jurisdiction and hosted 11 undergraduate students as part of Wittenberg University's 2005 program. Participating students worked in the Meredith town offices on a variety of projects and gained valuable insight into daily local government operations.
Host Interns in Your Community and Get Some Work Done!
For future program years, Wittenberg staff is looking for local governments to host the students for an eight-week period from June to July. The primary responsibilities for the host local government is to locate complimentary housing for the students and identify or create projects that those students can complete or get a significant lead on within their internship. The LGMI program is of significant value to a host local government looking for a low-cost way to complete several worthy projects simultaneously.
The Wittenberg LGMIs are unpaid; however, students will receive six to eight hours of college credit for successful completion of the program. The total cost to the student is around $2,700-$3,000 and includes tuition, transportation to and from the host city, and weekend excursions during the course of the program.
For More Information
Contact Rob Carty at ICMA.
