City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department-GLAD Student Intern

From RPTSWiki

Steven Cooksey

Houston Parks and Recreation Department

Grants, Legislation and Development Division

Spring 2008 Internship

Department Description

The City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for over 350 developed parks and over 200 green spaces. HPARD has 52 Community Centers and employs over 800 full time employees. As a part of its mission, the department provides all sorts of programming for minimum fees, with several programs provided absolutely free to users.

Mission Statement

"To enhance the quality of urban life by providing safe, well-maintained parks and offering affordable programs for the community."

Job Description

The job of a student intern with HPARD’s Grants and Legislation Division is one of learning and application. Interns have to learn the process for identifying, evaluating and choosing grant projects. Once the projects are chosen, partners have to be secured and a plan for the grant project must be set forth. The intern must then collaborate on writing a formal grant proposal to TPWD or other organizations that may be able to provide funding for the chosen projects. Interns must also have a firm understanding of what is required in a grant proposal and be able to create a strong proposal that will score highly, because only about one of every three proposals are funded by the TPWD. A student looking to obtain the position of a management intern with GLAD should have the skills mentioned above and also be ready for long workdays.

Intern Responsibilities

· Learns about area of career interest by observing and assisting professionals in their daily activities.

· Assists in the coordination, administration and/or monitoring of specific programs.

· Performs general administrative, analytical and operating activities associated with a specific program.

· Researches topics pertinent to specific area of study and work.

· Assists with special projects as assigned.

Intern Specifications

Knowledge:

Requires the ability and knowledge for analysis and interpretation of procedures, policies and practices attainable through specific education and/or training programs in a specialty or technical field. (Individuals are college students, typically in their junior or senior year, with the exception of incumbents in the Houston Police Department who may be freshmen and sophomores).

Experience:

No experience is required.

Benefits and Opportunities

Interns with GLAD work 40 hours per week during normal business hours. Student Interns are pay grade 10, which earns between $9 and $16 per hour, depending on the step. Interns are temporary employees, and as such are not entitled to benefits or vacation time.

There is an opportunity to learn new concepts and to apply old concepts learned in class. I had the opportunity to write and submit a $1,000,000 grant proposal to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Urban Indoor Recreation Program that would be used to supplant city funds in the construction of a new Community Center for the Sagemont Community in Southeast Houston. In writing this grant, I was able to see what really goes in to requesting money from the state and what the requirements are to write a proposal that can be competitive and have a good chance of being funded. I also had the opportunity to sit in on meetings and attend conferences that showed me behind the scenes parks work, taught me new concepts and allowed for social networking.

A major perk of working for the parks department is that the work has to do with parks. There were several days during my internship that I spent all day out of the office visiting parks in various stages of the grant process. Even though I was “working” by taking pictures and speaking with people responsible for different parts of each park, I was still walking around in a park and getting paid for it.

Achievements

1. Learned what it takes to be a part of an urban parks department.

2. Networked and built relationships that will be useful in my future.

3. Spent time with other divisions learning all sides of the parks department.

4. Helped to facilitate the Grand Slam for Youth Baseball Opening Event.

5. Wrote and submitted a $1,000,000 TPWD Urban Indoor Recreation grant proposal (with guidance and help).