Statue of man restraining commerce at front of FTC -- Image courtesy of the Federal Trade CommissionFederal Trade Commission http://www.ftc.gov/

Organization Overview:

As a consumer or businessperson, you may be more familiar with the work of the Federal Trade Commission than you think. Consumers who refer to care labels in their clothes, product warranties, or stickers showing the energy costs of home appliances are using information required by the FTC. Businesses must be familiar with the laws requiring truthful advertising or prohibiting price fixing. These laws also are administered by the FTC. The FTC deals with issues that touch the economic lives of most Americans. In fact, the agency has a long tradition of maintaining a competitive marketplace for both consumers and businesses. When the FTC was created in 1914, its purpose was to prevent unfair methods of competition in commerce as part of the battle to "bust the trusts." Over the years, Congress passed additional laws giving the agency greater authority to police anti-competitive practices.

Projects:

The Federal Trade Commission Records and Filings Office is seeking interns to assist with projects related to the FTC's records and information management program. Interns would work directly with FTC's records officer, Bonnie Curtin, and her staff. Curtin spent 12 years at the National Archives and Records Administration where she advised over 20 federal agencies on improving their records management programs. She also taught NARA's intensive course on electronic records issues. As a senior program officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities, she advised on grants to libraries and archives for records preservation and access, and served on the interagency task force guiding emergency preservation of records in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.

  1. Records and Information Management Intranet (One Student)
    2. One student will work with the team engaged in updating the FTC records and information management intranet Web site. The purpose of the Web site is to provide a central source of information about records services and guidance. The intern in this position will assist in refining text and content for the site, designing and encoding the site, obtaining materials from key organizations, such as the National Archives and Records Administration, and preparing the site for mounting on the FTC Intranet.
  2. Records Disaster Preparedness and Recovery (One Student)
    3. One student will work on aspects of the FTC's records disaster preparedness and recovery plan as part of the Continuity of Operations Plan, a federal-wide program to protect people, property, and information resources, and to maintain key government functions including information resources needed during emergencies and needed to resume operations following emergencies. The Records and Filings Office is responsible for identifying FTC's vital records and assisting in their protection and recovery at headquarters and in regional offices. The student will (1) participate in reviewing and revising the plan to ensure that it is complete and up to date and (2) assemble two small kits for use in responding to small emergencies, such as a leak in a file room.

    Participant Comments

    "I researched through the Records Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Project and designed the project. I finished with a final report. The design aspect was my favorite. ASB helped me to utilize my course knowledge into the practical world. It is good. The supervisor was really nice."


The School of Information's Alternative Spring Break is open to graduate students studying at the School of Information. Undergraduates looking for Alternative Spring Break opportunities should look into the University of Michigan Alternative Spring Break program administered by U-M's Ginsberg Center.

 

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