Industry‐university “consulternships”: an implementation guide

Abstract

Describes an innovative approach to building and utilizing industry‐university partnerships which we titled “consulternships”. Consulternships reflect a blend of professional consulting engagements, student internships and faculty externships. These consulternships typically last longer than a single academic term, they are financially supported by a firm or organization, and they reflect intensive project management involvement by the firm’s staff, a student team and university faculty members. This article describes the need for consulternships, their advantages and disadvantages and how to establish them. It also describes a specific case study at the University of Colorado at Denver as a model for such consulternships.