CCRC Welcomes Five Interns for Summer 2023

This summer, the research and communications teams at CCRC are joined by five undergraduate interns. With backgrounds ranging from research and psychology to journalism and the humanities, this summer’s cohort brings fresh perspectives and energy to CCRC.

The research interns hit the ground running this June, and the communications interns this July. As if learning all of the higher ed acronyms and jargon was not a tall enough order, they were also tasked with familiarizing themselves with their respective research teams’ projects, learning about qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, and generally orienting themselves to the work CCRC does. But they adapted quickly and have been providing essential support to their teams.

We hope they will end the summer with a deeper understanding of research methods and the important role community colleges play in the U.S. higher education system.

Meet this year’s interns:

Sarahi Hernandez

Sarahi Hernandez is a rising senior at City College who came to CCRC through the S Jay Levy Fellowship, a competitive fellowship program which connects undergraduate students with leadership advancement opportunities. Hernandez is pursuing a double major in anthropology with a minor in women and gender studies. At CCRC, Hernandez is supporting a project focused on updating college placement methods. The project explores the use of alternative measures such as high school GPA—instead of standardized testing alone—to determine which courses students are placed in.

“From this internship, I hope to gain new skills within research, understand what it’s like to work on a research team, and learn how to connect and network with other people. Thus far, it has been a successful and fulfilling journey at CCRC, and I have been able to achieve all of that!”

Matthew Kutam

Matt Kutam assists on two projects: one documenting and evaluating the effectiveness of corequisite models at City University of New York (CUNY) colleges and another examining how community college students choose programs of study. Kutam is a rising sophomore at Brown University, where he intends to major in either applied math or economics.

Kutam is interested in exploring all the ways that expanding access to higher education can improve social mobility for students. This summer, he hopes to gain experience with both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Chelenny Paulino Batista

Chelenny Paulino Batista is a rising senior at City College who was also awarded the prestigious S Jay Levy Fellowship. Paulino Batista is pursuing a double major in psychology and Romance languages with a keen interest in research. She currently works on a project focused on better understanding and improving first-generation college students’ support networks, which she supports by taking notes during interviews and polishing transcriptions afterwards.

“CCRC has provided me with a great opportunity to gain research experience, and that is exactly what I have gotten out of this internship,” she said. “Moving forward, I will continue to develop my research skills and pursue a position that allows me to work alongside accomplished people, like everyone here at CCRC.”

Emily Perez

Emily Perez is a rising junior at Baruch College, where she is a proud first-generation college student studying digital communications. This summer, Perez is working with the communications team to highlight community college students’ voices. Having contributed to the college-search website Niche as well as CUNY TV, Perez joins CCRC with knowledge and experience in conveying students’ stories, especially as they make the jump from high school to college.

“I'm at CCRC this summer because I feel that CCRC has the same mission as me—to improve access to higher education. I'm extremely satisfied with all the help and resources I've been provided with at my time here both personally and professionally.”

Klaudia Wiacek

Klaudia Wiacek studies psychology and English at CUNY’s College of Staten Island, where she will return as a sophomore this fall. Wiacek supports the communications team, writing blogs and creating student-focused social media content. Before coming to CCRC, Wiacek contributed to her college’s newspaper, covering events and even submitting creative writing.

“From this internship, I hope to get familiar with and gain experience working in a research organization. I also aim to capture the student voice and perspective in relation to the various projects and research that CCRC conducts.”