Intern Request Form

Thank you for your interest in requesting a Graduate Public Service Intern through the University of Illinois Springfield. Please first read through the below information to better understand the process of requesting, interviewing and placing a GPSI intern. Please proceed through the form and fill it out to the best of your abilities.

*Important* Please ensure that the position you are requesting has been approved and there is funding available to support it.

Statement of Purpose

The Graduate Public Service Internship (GPSI) at the University of Illinois – Springfield (UIS) is a proven experiential learning program that grants state agencies, governmental bodies, and nonprofit organizations access to UIS’s high achieving graduate students for the purpose of providing a valuable internship experience to the graduate student. Upon successfully filling a position, the agency will enter into a contractual agreement with UIS, whereby the agency will provide UIS payment that will cover the cost of tuition, fees, professional development funding, and a monthly stipend to the intern. The Office of Graduate Intern Programs (OGIP), housed under UIS’s Center for State Policy and Leadership (CSPL), administers the program and handles the recruitment of prospective interns, evaluation of program eligibility, and acceptance as candidates. OGIP will submit qualified candidates for agencies to review, conduct interviews with, and ultimately submit rankings for. Offers for employment are made by rank, and once an offer is accepted by a candidate, an invoice will be sent to the agency.

The Process

Intern Requests

• Agencies that would like to participate in the GPSI program may submit a request through the Intern Request Form. The form is distributed to placements ahead of each interview round. If you would like to be added to the initial distribution, please reach out to GPSImail@uis.edu

• The Intern Request Form will ask for various information regarding the internship itself and it is important to consider this information carefully, as this will be distributed to candidates and may impact their decision on which internships to accept interviews for and ultimately accept. The information requested includes: internship description (tasks, responsibilities, expectations), learning objectives, experience level (degree, skills, etc,), and the location/modality of the internship (in-person, remote, hybrid).

Application Materials and Interview Requests

• After vetting all applicants to GPSI, OGIP will distribute application materials to agencies for review.

• After reviewing available candidates, agencies will then submit the names of candidates they would like invite to interview.

• OGIP communicates interview requests to selected applicants and applicants have the opportunity to accept or decline the interview.

Interviews

• OGIP communicates accepted interview invitations with agencies, and distributes interviewee contact information to interviewers. Interviewers must contact interviewees to arrange interviews by video conference. All interviews must take place during the specified time period.

• Following the completion of all interviews, the agencies must submit their rankings of candidates.

Matching

• OGIP compiles all rankings of candidates and begins the matching process.

• Offers are sent to candidates by order of rank. Candidates will accept or decline a given internship opportunity.

• If the number one ranked candidate declines an internship opportunity, the internship will be offered to the next available ranked candidate. The process will continue until all positions are filled or fail to find matches.

Hired!

• Once a match has been made a statement of work will be generated for the agency to sign.

Contracts

• Contracts are in place for the duration of an intern's graduate program. OGIP usually only accepts applicants that can complete at least one year of an internship.

Agency Stakeholders

• Primary Liaison – designated contact person for internship within an agency. Some agencies require internship approvals to go through this contact. Usually within HR or contracts.

• Supervisor / Mentor – designated supervisor and mentor of a GPSI Intern. Oversees the day-to-day work of the intern, approves timesheets, completes mid-year and end-of-year evaluations of the intern.

• Interviewer – person(s) designated to perform interviews for GPSI Internship. Can be position contact, supervisor, or another closely involved in the work of the internship.

Please provide information for individuals who will be involved in interviews. We will be copy all interviewers on interview correspondence and instructions.

IMPORTANT - The person listed as Interviewer #1 will be responsible for submitting candidates for interviews, as well as submitting the post-interview rankings. Please ensure the email address is correct, since the submission will come as a Smartsheet Update Request.

Please provide the name of the person who will be supervising/mentoring the student throughout the duration of the internship.

Please use the following section to provide a detailed description of what your internship will entail. What goals will this internship have? What are the intern's objectives? What daily tasks will the intern be in charge of? Are there specific projects or initiatives this intern will be in charge of or working on?

In order for an internship to be a valuable experience for both the intern and the agency, the overall scope of the internship should be clearly defined. This is your opportunity to show the students how this internship can benefit them, and the more detail you can provide, the more likely you will find an ideal candidate!

Internship Tasks or Duties - Please provide at least 3 regular tasks or duties the intern will perform or be responsible for.

The form will accept up to 8 tasks/duties.

Spring 2026 Interns

Oct 1 - GPSI Application Deadline

Oct 6 - 5pm - Deadline to Submit Intern Request Form

Oct 7 - GPSI Office Releases Candidate Resumes to Agency

Oct 11 - 5pm - Deadline to Submit Interview Requests

Oct 18 - Notification of Confirmed Interview Offers

Oct 21 - Oct 31 - Schedule & Conduct Interviews

Oct 31 - 5pm - Deadline to Submit Post-Interview Candidate Rankings

Nov 1 - GPSI Office Extends Offers to Candidates & Completes the Matching Process

Nov 8 - Placements notified of results (anticipated)

Fall 2026 Interns

March 31- GPSI Application Deadline

April 6 5pm - Deadline to Submit Intern Request

April 7 - GPSI Office Releases Applicant Files to requested positions

April 11 - Deadline to Submit Interview Invitations

April 18 Notification of Confirmed Interview Offers

April 21 - 30 Schedule & Conduct Interviews

May 1 - 5pm – Deadline to Submit Post-Interview Candidate Rankings

May 2 - GPSI Office Extends Offers to Candidates & Completes the Matching Process

May 9 - Placements notified of results (anticipated)