The OF&S Student Intern Program is entering its third year with a broader reach. For the first two years, OF&S-sponsored internships were available exclusively to units within Operations, Finance & Support. This year, OF&S has expanded the program university-wide, providing funding and program support for eight student internships hosted by schools and units across Rice.
The expansion gives students access to a broader range of project-based experiences while allowing more areas of the university to benefit from their perspectives and talents.
Focusing on the Student Experience
Feedback from previous interns and supervisors is also shaping an enhanced student experience this year, with new opportunities that complement hands-on project work and support professional growth:
- Career development: In partnership with Rice’s Center for Career Development, interns and supervisors will use Career Launch, a meaningful tool to assess, track and develop key career-building competencies throughout the internship.
- Connections with Rice leaders: Career Conversations will give interns opportunities to meet Rice leaders, hear about their professional journeys and gain perspectives on careers, leadership and navigating the workplace.
- A stronger intern community: Group activities, networking and social opportunities will help interns build relationships with one another and make connections beyond their individual teams.
- Professional communication skills: Interns conclude the program by presenting their work, accomplishments and lessons learned to supervisors and university leaders. This year, OF&S is partnering with Rice’s Center for Academic & Professional Communication to provide additional support as students develop their presentations and strengthen their ability to communicate their work and its impact.
Together, these enhancements will help students build career-ready skills, expand their professional networks, and gain confidence articulating their contributions and accomplishments.
The 2026–27 OF&S-Sponsored Internships
Over the course of the 2026–27 academic year, interns will work approximately 10 hours per week, taking an active role in projects designed to advance work across Rice.
- Athletics Marketing & Fan Engagement — Rice Athletics: Develop strategies to grow student and community engagement in Rice Athletics through the Rep the R campaign.
- Digital Accessibility & User Experience — Development & Alumni Relations: Improve the usability and accessibility of OwlConnect support resources through user research and content improvements.
- Compliance & Program Engagement — Office of Ethics, Compliance, and Enterprise Risk: Support Rice’s Youth Protection Program through stakeholder feedback, communications and educational resources.
- Data & Assessment — Center for Career Development: Analyze student engagement and career outcomes data and develop tools to strengthen program assessment and decision-making.
- Student Engagement & Communications — School of Humanities: Develop strategies and tools to increase undergraduate awareness of and participation in Humanities events and programming.
- Event Marketing & Community Engagement — Environmental Sciences: Support outreach, marketing, employer recruitment and event planning for the Green Career Forum.
- Global Travel Safety — Rice Global: Research travel risk management practices and develop resources to support Rice travelers.
- Business Process & Digital Operations — School of Social Sciences: Improve research administration workflows and help create a centralized system for digital communications assets.
With a broader campus reach and an enhanced student experience, the program’s third year is focused on what students accomplish—and the skills, relationships and experiences they take with them.