Instead of dashing off to party in warmer climates like Florida or Texas for Spring Break next week, about 30 University of Iowa students will be riding buses around -this- state on an educational venture. Jane Schildroth is organizing what’s called the “Consider Iowa Road Trip”to give the students a chance to learn more about the state.Schildroth, director of career education at the U-of-I’s Career Center, says the students are being exposed to opportunities in the biotech and science industries in Iowa. They’ll tour three organization over two days — Kemin Industries, a nutritional ingredient manufacturer in Des Moines; the Science Center of Iowa, an interactive learning center in Des Moines; and Trans Ova Genetics, an agricultural biotechnology firm in Sioux Center. Schildroth says about half of the students aren’t from Iowa and may not know about all that’s being done here. Not all of them are job-hunting seniors, either. There are freshman, juniors, sophomores and seniors from a variety of majors. Students who take the road trip on Monday and Tuesday get one credit hour for the experimental class. Schildroth says the goals of this course are to expose students to employment opportunities within the state of Iowa, prepare appropriately for site visits and organize observations and reactions into a report. Schildroth says she hopes this will be a win-win-win proposition — for the students who participate, for the companies they visit and for the future economic development of the state. U-of-I students will get a glimpse of the possibilities that exist in their areas of study while receiving the advantage of interacting with professionals in those fields. Companies will have the opportunity to learn more about university resources and programs as well as products and services offered by other Iowa businesses.
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