Minority Program Celebrates 10 Years of Providing Opportunities

For Chase Loper, the problem wasn’t talent—it was opportunity.

Having just earned an MBA, Loper, who is African-American, was looking for relevant job experience, which can be difficult to find for underrepresented groups such as women and minorities.

That’s when the University’s Minority Development Internship Program provided an avenue to start Loper down his career path. After beginning his internship with the Office of Planning, Budgeting and Institutional Research in 2012, Loper moved into roles with the controller’s office and facilities management, where he was hired as a full-time budget analyst in 2014.

Recently promoted to director of shared services within facilities management, Loper credits the internship program—which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in January—with providing him much-needed experience.

“The internship is a low risk, high-reward opportunity,” he said. “It gave me the exposure to demonstrate my skills and start my career in the right direction.”

More than 20 people from underrepresented groups have benefited from the program, with 16 obtaining permanent employment at Duquesne, according to Marla Bradford, senior recruiter and diversity recruiting leader at the University.

“Duquesne is dedicated to fostering diversity,” Bradford said. “We created the program because we realized a more proactive approach was necessary to provide employment opportunities for minorities. Now we are training and placing more minority employees and watching them excel—it’s gratifying.”

The program’s success has been recognized with awards from both the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources and the Pittsburgh Human Resources Association. Studies have shown that organizations with a diverse workforce are more productive.

The Minority Development Internship Program places interns into positions for three to six months, with the goal of rotating them through academic departments and business units. Through this rotation, interns build their knowledge, boost their skills and increase their chances for permanent employment, Bradford said. The program is open to minorities who are looking for professional or administrative experience.

The structure of the internship program allows interns to demonstrate their skills within their particular field while gaining institutional knowledge from different departments, Loper added.

“Overall, it’s a great program with a focus on giving interns experience all over campus,” Loper said. “I know other members of the program who work in Student Affairs, Athletics and Public Safety, for example, which makes it helpful for people with a lot of different skills.”