2008 Woodie Awards
No such thing as free credit: Intern plan hits a stalemate
Program's cost of $2.7 million is too much for UM to say yes
Heather Steeves
Issue date: 3/27/08 Section: News
A proposal to give students free one-credit internships has stalled.
"There is nothing, right now, that we are ready to do with this," University of Maine's Associate Provost Susan Hunter said in an e-mail. She said the program is at a "very formative stage."
The program would cost $2.7 million if every student participated, according to UMaine Vice President for Administration and Finance Janet Waldron. "It becomes lost revenue to the institution," she said.
"They are budgeting the impact of this at the cost of every student having one credit, which I think is entirely blown out of scale," said fourth-year journalism major Derek Mitchell, who wrote the proposal. "I think this is, for the lack of a better word, a copout."
Waldron believes the option would drastically expand student participation, at increased cost to the university.
"Why, if you got one free credit, wouldn't you do it?" Waldron said.
The proposed one-credit internship course would have been administered online with interns required to complete weekly journal entries to be reviewed by a graduate student or a staff member in the Career Center.
Hunter said the program could not be developed without department faculty for accreditation reasons.
Students would have had the choice to participate in the free credit, or to pay for credits under their department. Currently, each department administers its own internship courses with varying requirements. This would not have counted for some required internships such as teaching programs for education majors.
According to a study conducted by UMS, each dollar of funding for UMaine puts more than $7 back into Maine's economy.
"Get [graduates] the experience so they get higher paying jobs, better opportunities and bring back more money to the state," Mitchell said. "Each graduating class impacts the Maine economy by millions of dollars. Let's make it more millions."
Mitchell said the university should encourage students to get internships, which gives them the prior experience needed in finding jobs after graduation. "UMaine could be leading the way in making that a slightly more affordable opportunity for students."
"There is nothing, right now, that we are ready to do with this," University of Maine's Associate Provost Susan Hunter said in an e-mail. She said the program is at a "very formative stage."
The program would cost $2.7 million if every student participated, according to UMaine Vice President for Administration and Finance Janet Waldron. "It becomes lost revenue to the institution," she said.
"They are budgeting the impact of this at the cost of every student having one credit, which I think is entirely blown out of scale," said fourth-year journalism major Derek Mitchell, who wrote the proposal. "I think this is, for the lack of a better word, a copout."
Waldron believes the option would drastically expand student participation, at increased cost to the university.
"Why, if you got one free credit, wouldn't you do it?" Waldron said.
The proposed one-credit internship course would have been administered online with interns required to complete weekly journal entries to be reviewed by a graduate student or a staff member in the Career Center.
Hunter said the program could not be developed without department faculty for accreditation reasons.
Students would have had the choice to participate in the free credit, or to pay for credits under their department. Currently, each department administers its own internship courses with varying requirements. This would not have counted for some required internships such as teaching programs for education majors.
According to a study conducted by UMS, each dollar of funding for UMaine puts more than $7 back into Maine's economy.
"Get [graduates] the experience so they get higher paying jobs, better opportunities and bring back more money to the state," Mitchell said. "Each graduating class impacts the Maine economy by millions of dollars. Let's make it more millions."
Mitchell said the university should encourage students to get internships, which gives them the prior experience needed in finding jobs after graduation. "UMaine could be leading the way in making that a slightly more affordable opportunity for students."
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