Listen Here
By Sarah Stubbs
@sarahxstubbs
The University of Findlay students and faculty members will celebrate the remainder of St. Patrick’s Day in UF and Cleveland orange upon the announcement of the University’s new academic partnership with the Cleveland Browns.
At 3:30 p.m. today the University announced the partnership to the public after teasing it on social media throughout the day.
UF president Katherine Fell and a handful of UF students and faculty traveled to Berea and toured the Cleveland Browns headquarters where the partnership was signed this morning.
According to Anthony Cangelosi, manager of partnership service and activation for the Browns, there will be approximately ten internship positions available to UF students beginning in May.
Cangelosi says the internship positions will run year-round, but are relative to schedules, circumstances, and need.
“It really all depends on who’s coming up and what they’re looking to do and it’s obviously based on schedules as well. We pretty much have a guaranteed, reserved amount for UF students,” said Cangelosi.
Alec Scheiner, Cleveland Browns president, says that this academic partnership will benefit both UF and the Browns equally because of the innovative nature of both organizations.
“The best thing we can do with these internship opportunities is to take what’s being taught in the classroom and apply it in our building and also apply some of the things we’ve learned over the course of our years in sports to your curriculum,” said Scheiner. “I think that’s an innovative thing that we can do together. Your students will get tons out of it and we will get tons out of it. We couldn’t be happier about the partnership.”
Fell says that this academic partnership will further embody UF’s existing goals and principles.
“The Browns are an organization that will teach our students 21st century real-life work skills and the University of Findlay is committed to that kind of education for our students. I think that the students who are here today can attest to that,” said Fell. “One of our eight strategic goals at the University is to provide experiential learning for all students and this is an unparalleled opportunity for us.”
Students Shannon Ebert, junior marketing and graphic design major and Haley Gray, sophomore marketing and sport and event management major, are two of the UF students who traveled to Cleveland today.
Ebert and Gray participated in Fell and Scheiner’s discussion on what an academic partnership will mean for the University as well as what an internship with the Cleveland Browns would provide to a Findlay student.
Gray says that she would want to gain real-life experience upon an opportunity to intern with the Browns.
“It would be amazing to gain the experience of being part of an organization that you only dream of being a part of and learning from those people,” said Gray.
Scheiner says that all internships with the Browns will be hands-on so that Findlay students will be receiving that experiential learning.
“The great thing about an organization our size is that everything has to be hands-on. We don’t have the luxury to just have people be shadowed. We need to get things done this summer and you’ll see that first hand,” said Scheiner. “The training camp is always a big endeavor for us, we have a lot of internships there. But there are also opportunities in community relations, PR, you-name-it.”
According to Fell, these hands-on internship opportunities serve as an extension of what the University already practices and will put students in a position to learn and grow even more.
“We want our students to face challenges and turn those challenges into opportunities and bring success to the organizations where they intern and the only way to do that is through real-life experience and hands-on work,” said Fell.
Fell says that internship opportunities are not limited to certain majors. Any internship opportunity is relative to any particular student’s interests and plans.
According to Scheiner, passion is what it takes to pursue and succeed in an internship for the Cleveland Browns, no matter what your area of study may be.
“You can succeed here if you are passionate about something. You can be passionate about finance, marketing, or sports sponsorships. You can be passionate about football equipment and have a great internship,” said Scheiner. “We just need people who are passionate. Those are the people who do best in our industry.”
The academic partnership itself, according to Scheiner, is a new idea in sports.
Scheiner says that some professional sports programs do have partnerships with colleges and universities, but not with the same focus UF and the Cleveland Browns have.
“We’ll learn from Findlay. Findlay will learn from us. We’ll get better from having your students. Your students will get better from being here. Hopefully that can ultimately shape your sports curriculum or your marketing curriculum,” said Scheiner.
According to Rebecca Jenkins, director of marketing and communication at UF, the internship applications are now live and accessible on Findlay.edu/BrownsEdge.
The deadline is Friday, March 20 at 5 p.m.
Jenkins says that next week there will be interviews on-campus for applicants and students making it through that first round will be forwarded on to the Cleveland Browns.
“I encourage any student interested in pursuing a career in sports—whether you’re studying marketing or finance or anything—to get online and apply,” said Jenkins.
For additional details and information regarding the Cleveland Browns internship opportunities, email Scott Grant, assistant professor of sport and event management, at sgrant@findlay.edu.
