The University of Wyoming (UW) has offices in every county. These offices host and support educational programs, such as Wyoming 4-H and the Cent$ible Nutrition Program.
In the past, some of those office positions were staffed with AmeriCorps volunteers during the summer. But with cuts to the federal agency still potentially affecting 26 states, UW decided to fund an internship program to replace some of those volunteers.
Abby McIrvin, Federal Relations Employee Success Coordinator, said the school found funding within its budget to hire interns for the summer.
“We ended up losing that funding, through DOGE cuts or AmeriCorps funding,” said McIrvin. “And then had to kind of scramble to find different funding within our state office extension funding to support those interns through the summer.”
The funding will be enough to match the former benefits offered by AmeriCorps, including both a work stipend and an education award. Last year, 16 AmeriCorps volunteers participated.
“This year we were able to support 11 interns, and that’s kind of where we had to cap when we had to pivot so quickly,” said McIrvin.
If AmeriCorps funding were to return to the program entirely, McIrvin indicated UW would not apply for AmeriCorps support for the foreseeable future.
“ Extension decided to pull our [AmeriCorps] application that we had submitted before the shutdown of everything, just because we were able to pivot and figure something out that supports our counties in a different way,” said McIrvin.
McIrvin said UW has already committed to funding this internship next year.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
