A student shares their internship experience with the City of Columbus, WI

This summer I worked as an Administrative Intern for the City of Columbus, WI. Supervised by the City Administrator, I worked on several projects for the Economic Development, Finance, Public Works, and Parks departments. Working with a variety of departments strengthened my understanding of how municipalities operate, and I learned about important tools for local governments such as tax increment financing and capital improvement programming. The main project I worked on was a Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, which involved gathering public input and an analysis of the existing parks system to guide park development over the next five years. I administered an online survey that received 350 responses and used my statistics background to analyze the data. Additionally, I found the skills I learned in Policy Analysis last semester helpful for evaluating the current park policies and creating recommendations. Through this internship, I also got the opportunity to attend the Wisconsin City/County Management Association (WCMA) conference, where I met many local government professionals. After interacting with so many passionate government workers, I hope to continue working with local government throughout my career.