BOONE, N.C. — Staci Hunter ’18, a recent graduate of Appalachian State University’s criminal justice program, was awarded a State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) Public Fellows Internship scholarship for the 2017-18 year. The Wendell native earned 12 hours of course credit while interning at the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office in Wilkesboro during the spring 2018 semester.

Hunter said she was able to see and do many things in her internship — from witnessing arrests and civilians interacting with officers, to listening to interviews and observing the office’s inventory of evidence. She said a sheriff’s office is charged with an array of responsibilities, and she was able to participate in many.

“Staci had the opportunity to rotate among offices and units to see the wide variety of responsibilities of a sheriff’s office. Not only did this experience help Staci academically and professionally, it will help her future employer and the community she serves by creating a more knowledgeable professional,” said Dr. Jeff Holcomb, professor of criminal justice in the university’s Department of Government and Justice Studies.

The SECU Public Service Fellows program is for undergraduate residents of North Carolina studying full time at schools in the University of North Carolina System. The program aims to help build capacity in rural communities and to generate interest in job opportunities that are closer to home for many students.

“This experience is something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life as I go into my career field. I was given a chance to learn more about my future profession and the insights that I was given are priceless,” Hunter said.

“None of this would have been possible without the SECU Fellowship because they allowed for me to put my all into this experience. And as they say, you get out what you put in.”

To learn more about the SECU Public Service Fellows program, as well as how to apply to the program, visit https://gjs.appstate.edu/students/internships/secu-fellowship.

About the State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) Public Fellows Internship

Funded by the SECU Foundation, the State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) Public Fellows Internship program is for undergraduate residents of North Carolina studying full time at Appalachian State University and other schools in the University of North Carolina System. The program is designed to connect students with local leadership in order to obtain meaningful, on-the-job experience with a local agency or organization while providing a learning opportunity that allows the intern to give back to that community. At Appalachian, the program is administered by the Career Development Center. Learn more at https://www.ncsecufoundation.org/Projects/PublicFellowsInternshipProgram.html.

About the Department of Government and Justice Studies

Appalachian State University’s Department of Government and Justice Studies offers undergraduate programs in political science and criminal justice, and graduate programs in political science and public administration. Housed in the College of Arts and Sciences, the department has over 600 undergraduate majors and more than 70 graduate students. Learn more at https://gjs.appstate.edu.

About the College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and locations. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,800 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at https://cas.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, cost-effective education. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

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