A new program on the UMass Amherst Mount Ida campus aims to connect nonprofit arts organizations, film production companies and other businesses with interns who are studying arts management, film studies or fine arts.

The university’s new “Semester @ Mount Ida” program will give students from the Amherst campus real-world work experience through internships at local organizations in and around Newton, Needham and Greater Boston.

“We are currently recruiting students to intern for about 17.5 hours/week for the semester, and we are eager to work with [nonprofits and businesses] who are interested in having students intern for them to develop and refine their programs for the excellent students from UMass Amherst,” said Christopher Janke, the program’s coordinator.

The arts management and film studies students, as well as a select number of students in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, will be living in Newton at the Mount Ida Campus and looking to intern at local organizations relevant to their studies. They will be able to help nonprofit arts institutions develop marketing or fundraising plans specifically for each organization through a faculty-guided semester-long case study program, among other possibilities.

The program is modeled on UMass’ Arts Extension Service which has successfully connected hundreds of UMass Amherst students with internships in Western Massachusetts and aims to duplicate its successes in the Eastern part of the state, said Dee Boyle-Clapp, AES Director.

“Our Arts Management students come from a variety of disciplines including history, English, dance, art history, music management, film and more. We welcome organizations from any art or humanities discipline, both for and nonprofit,” said Boyle-Clapp.

“The Semester at Mount Ida offers students new to the Boston area the opportunity to experience city life by day, and live on a beautiful campus and live in a sustainable dorm at night with a cohort of peers.”

Student enrollment for Spring of 2020 will begin in October of 2019 so prospective internship providers must sign up soon to considered.

Nonprofits and other businesses that are interested in possibly hosting an intern in one of these disciplines are invited to attend an information session on Sept. 13 at 11 a.m. at the Shaw Hall Solarium on the Mount Ida Campus.Contact cjanke@umass.edu to RSVP or (413) 545-2360 for more information. For more details go to www.umass.edu/aes/mount-ida