Site Call List

With this letter, we invite your organization to apply to host an intern through the 2026 Public Fellows Internship (PFI) program at ECU. Applications are due by 5:00 PM on December 12, 2025. Twenty sites will be selected to host interns between May 18 and August 14, 2026. Program selection is dependent upon funding, which should be finalized in the coming weeks.

The PFI program is supported with grant funding from the State Employees Credit Union (SECU) Foundation. It provides rural communities with access to student interns at no cost to participating organizations. The program blends a traditional internship experience with a team-based, collaborative approach that draws on the expertise of both the university and community partner agency.

Interns may work up to 40 hours a week for a total of 330 site hours during the placement. These immersive experiences can take place in a face-to-face or hybrid environment where students spend some time onsite and other hours teleworking. Each student selected will work as a self-help student for around $16/hour, paid through the university.
By assigning highly motivated and capable student interns to work in rural communities, this program may be a

useful strategy to build workforce capacity in the region. This program is targeted toward projects that engage communities that have existing relationships with ECU, primarily through the Engagement Outreach Scholars Academy (EOSA) or the Office of Research, Economic Development, and Engagement (REDE). While sites may submit proposals for up to three positions, only one intern can be placed at a single organization. For that reason, if an organization submits multiple proposals, we ask that it rank the positions in order of descending order of importance. All proposed positions should be submitted as a single packet. A team, including myself, an ECU faculty member, a PFI student intern alumnus, and a representative from State Employees Credit Union will select the 20 sites that will host interns.

Please complete the application here: site application. Completed application packets should be submitted no later than 5:00 PM on December 12,2025. Questions should be directed to me, the PFI program manager, Cassie Keel (keelc15@ecu.edu, 328-9480).

We look forward to your application and thank you for your partnership with ECU.
My best,

Cassie Keel
ECU University Program Specialist SECU PFI Program Manager
Office of Engaged Research