University News

LEJA Debuts Interactive Internship Map

June 7, 2018

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MACOMB, IL - - Where in the world are Western Illinois University School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration (LEJA) interns?

A new interactive internship Google map, which displays nine categories of criminal justice internships and locations where students are placed, has debuted on the school's website at wiu.edu/leja. The map also displays the agencies, organizations and companies that actively solicit WIU students for open positions within their organizations. According to Jill Joline Myers, School of LEJA director, more pins will be added as students are placed in internships throughout the coming years. Myers added that while the map shows criminal justice placements within the previous and current academic years, over the school's 50-year history, student interns have worked at approximately 1,400 locations worldwide.

"What's great about this interactive map is you can choose the criminal justice category and see exactly where our interns are placed—from D.C. to California to Florida and beyond—and by clicking on a pin, you can see the specific agency supporting our interns, such as Interpol in Washington D.C., a state prison in South Dakota, a security agency in Las Vegas, the Bloomington Fire Department, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Kansas City, the Kankakee County State's Attorney and the myriad of various agencies within the state of Illinois, nationally and internationally," Myers added. "We're thrilled to show our current students, as well as prospective students, just how far their degree will take them."

A 2016 alumna who has been working for the U.S. Secret Service for almost a year was recently assigned to the White House.

"I could not have done it without the WIU LEJA professors," she said. "I want to let Western students know that anything is possible. I never believed I would be assigned to the White House, never in a million years. WIU has a lot of great opportunities and great professors, and I would not be where I am today without their guidance, patience and drive to teach."

Western's School of LEJA boasts nearly 13,200 alumni around the world, and nearly 2,000 students are currently enrolled as LEJA majors and/or minors.

For more information on the WIU School of LEJA, including the newest online degree programs (undergraduate and graduate) in criminal justice and fire science, contact wiu.edu/leja.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing