Osceola City Council just began an educational relationship with Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC).
During a city council meeting Tuesday, Aug. 4, the council approved the request from DMACC for a fall internship at the city’s waste water treatment plant.
“I like the concept, personally, because I think that it would be a good possible future recruiting stream for the city if we get involved with DMACC,” said Ty Wheeler, city administrator/clerk. “I also think that there is some potential for continuing education opportunities with our staff, which we currently haven’t sent any staff to a community college course. They take them through the DNR and other continuing ‘ed’ programs offered through the state.”
Internship
Originally, DMACC officials contacted waste water officials about having a fall intern in Osceola.
An intern would be considered a part-time employee — for the city to hire this intern. The intern would complete 240 hours of work with compensation between $9-14 an hour.
A fall internship would most likely run from late August to mid-December. Wheeler said the intern was from Urbandale.
It was mentioned if the intern is paid $13 an hour, that would mean the total cost is approximately $3,000. Since the intern would just be a part-time employee, it won’t make an impact on the city’s health insurance plan, which is for full-time employees.
Semester by semester
The approval for the intern would be a one-time approval, which means it can be fit in the budget.
“This is a trial run on our part. We want to make sure that it fits for us,” Wheeler said. “We can start to incorporate this into the budget, but I do think that this would be more of a case by case. I don’t think we should (always) expect the placement of an intern with us, nor should DMACC expect that they can place an intern with us. We want to go about this semester by semester.”
The council discussed they didn’t want to create concerns with Southwestern Community College, which has a center in Osceola, and offers various educational opportunities.
However, they did want to open the door to opportunities for everybody.
“I think it’s a pretty good deal,” Wheeler said.