Conor Burrell
Connector Contributor
The challenges of finding a good internship and finding the right person to talk to can be a major frustration for students at UMass Lowell. This frustration can also trickle down to the faculty trying to help these students, along with community partners who would love to have student interns but have no line of communication to get them. Students must advocate for themselves and take the first step. However, without the right resources and connections, sometimes taking that first step simply isn’t enough. The theme for the Fall 2025 semester at UMass Lowell is to have the best launching pad for students to fly and achieve their goals.
These are all challenges that could potentially be alleviated with the opening of Transformative Internships and Engagement (TIE) Hub, the new headquarters for Career-Connected and Community-Engaged Teaching and Learning for Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (FAHSS). This new startup at UMass Lowell for the Fall 2025 semester will serve as the urgently needed bridge between students, faculty and staff, as well as nonprofit, governmental and educational organizations. This new “one stop shop” for internships and service learning at the college can certainly make things easier in terms of communication between all these parties involved with a student internship. However, this is quite the daunting task. TIE Hub will have major shoes to fill, and the founder of this program, English professor Dr. Diana C. Archibald has done lots of work to give this new startup all the things needed to succeed. “Job ads require experience to get an entry level job within a student’s desired field, we make it easy to get that food in the door,” says Dr. Archibald.
Internships provide opportunities for students to gain a potential career path, an opportunity network with potential employers and provide a chance to sharpen skills before entering the workforce. They also help with figuring out a student’s passion. Potential employers often use internships as a way for potential employees to make a smooth transition into their role when hired. A major goal of this college is to provide these opportunities in abundance to its many students, which TIE Hub makes a lot more achievable.
TIE Hub also fulfills a secondary but just as important role. Many departments and programs offer or require activities that support career readiness such as internships, research, community engagement and skills-based coursework. This requirement is designed to promote greater consistency and equitable access across all programs, according to its promoters. With the addition of a new course, FAHS.4800: FAHSS Internship Experience, TIE Hub will help students, staff, and faculty with fulfilling these requirements.
TIE Hub is here to meet the needs of students, faculty and the community. We want people to have meaningful experiences that help them advance their careers and make a difference in their community,” says Dr. Archibald.
The 2025 Fall semester at UMass Lowell provides a great solution to the challenges many students face with their internship needs. Obviously, only time will tell, but TIE Hub has a chance to help a lot of students, faculty, staff and community partners for many years to come.
