Article via Northwest Housing Association
In February 2023, Northwest Housing Association (NHA), a Washington State professional trade association representing manufacturers and manufactured housing retailer members partnered with South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) and 2nd year SPSCC Computer Information Systems (CIS) student Stella Parker.
Stella is an aspiring software developer who is currently in her second year of her Associate's CIS degree program. Stella has demonstrated her coding skills and building projects in addition to her SPSCC academic studies. Her interest in software development and aspirations are to one day work on meaningful projects that have a positive impact on people's lives.
NHA Executive Director Lance C. Clark, CAE, said, “Our Association is an advocate of providing local work solutions to our annual strategic business efforts. Working on local projects and programs, we are a firm believer of partnering with community colleges and universities with internship programs and work projects.”
Clark further said, “It was a pleasure working with SPSCC, computer science professor Michael Haensel and Stella, the SPCC computer department intern, on a Javascript, Adobe computation formula in a fillable form document. Our NHA staff and Stella collaborated over a three-week period to complete and beta test the NHA member form. NHA certainly could have hired a developer, however, it is happy to build work experience in a bright member of the community and a SPSCC student! And, truly, it’s a collaborative learning opportunity for both NHA and SPSCC alike!”
Jason Selwitz, Dean of Applied Technology at SPSCC, “It is always good to connect community needs with opportunities for faculty and students to help solve real-world problems. These types of collaborations provide students with relevant learning opportunities that help organizations directly. Often, internship and job offers follow.”
SPSCC professor Michael Haensel, said, “South Puget Sound Community College is pleased to partner with Olympia, Thurston County, and Washington State trade associations, businesses and partners to provide SPSCC students positive work experiences that help students bridge the gap between college and the workplace. Thank you Northwest Housing Association, for partnering with South Puget Sound Community College and the Computer Science department! For more information on SPSCC internship programs, contact Michael Haensel at the following e-mail address mhaensel@spscc.edu, web address https://people.spscc.edu/people/mhaensel and or phone # 360-596-5276.
For more information in general on SPSCC, log on to https://spscc.edu/.
Stella Parker (L), a 2nd-year SPSCC Computer Information Systems Student, poses with Brigette Smith (R), Northwest Housing Association office manager.