With the stroke of a pen and a friendly handshake, UF and Sears Holdings Corp. became partners Monday.
After a nationwide search, Sears selected Gainesville as a suitable home for the company’s first Technology Undergraduate Educational Partnership. The program will give UF students the opportunity to work on software development year-round for a Fortune 500 company.
Christina Shanks, a research strategy consultant, said the company started with universities with the top computer science engineering programs. It also factored in schools’ location, cost of living and Student Body diversity.
Sears representatives, UF College of Engineering Dean Cammy Abernathy and local officials celebrated the new partnership Monday at the the Ayers building on Southwest Second Avenue.
The Sears’ Center of Excellence will be housed within either the Innovation Hub or the Ayers building beginning in the Fall semester, Shanks said.
She said the company plans to take on 25 interns during the program’s first year. The students will take part in a 10-week paid internship in locations nationwide and then return to Gainesville during the school year for a 10- to 20-hour part-time paid job in the Innovation Hub.
Sears Holdings’ Chief Information Officer Keith Sherwell said the program is a great way to bring student talent to the company.
“This is more than just an internship,” he said. “This is working for us on a part-time basis.”
Shanks said the internship requires students to be at least a junior, have a minimum 3.0 GPA, and leadership, work and volunteer experience. The program is open to students studying computer science, computer engineering, mathematics, statistics, business administration, and digital arts and media.
Students can apply on the Gator CareerLink website.
“(Sears) will be at the front of the line when students choose internships,” Abernathy said.
Contact Colleen Wright at cwright@alligator.org.
