News-Letter

The pursuit of intellectual enrichment is under attack. Hopkins administrators are considering the implementation of a new policy that would obligate students to pay about $1,500 in order to receive credit for summer internships. The change may extend to independent study and research as well.

At this week's Student Council meeting, Dean Burger claimed that the Administration only wants to boost the academic nature of the work students do outside of the classroom.

She is correct to encourage reform of the system -- which seems imminent, if not necessary, at this point -- but to suggest required payment for free work is nothing short of reprehensible.

Tuesday night, Dean Burger likened paying for summer internship credit to the costs of summer classes. She stated that part of each student's tuition pays for credit, and that she had not yet been informed of a concrete reason why students do not pay for summer internships. I couldn't help but wonder how she mistook unpaid work and classroom time with a professor as equivalent.

This is not to say that reform of Hopkins' summer internship policy is unwarranted. On the contrary, if increasing academic credibility would prevent the University from demanding payment for summer internships, then I certainly welcome reorganization. But the looming threat of payment for credit should be dismissed immediately. Students will inevitably be much less likely to participate in internships, and, as a research university, Hopkins should encourage this type of activity, not deter it.

Far worse is the inequity this policy would create between students who can afford to pay for credit and those who cannot. Summer internships are already reserved for those who have the financial capability to forego a full-time summer job, but to ask students to pay to do free work is simply ridiculous. The financial elitism this proposed policy would promote is a sign that the Administration is perhaps a bit more negligent than some of us might have thought.

Administrators must recognize that the willingness of some students to undertake such a responsibility has shifted from noble to virtually necessary in the shrinking job market. Many students, especially those focusing on the humanities and social sciences, are essentially required to be willing to work for nothing if they hope to succeed after college.

Admittedly, the situation is complicated by the nebulous, somewhat questionable nature of the relationship between internships and any form of credit, whether academic or otherwise. This stems from the fact that interns, for the most part, are a source of free labor. As a result, the rules governing credit for such work have never been clear, and certain students have given up a regular salary for three months in exchange for the implied promise of three credits. Reform is now called for, mostly for this reason.

The unfortunate reality is most internships just aren't that great. Advisors encourage students to seek internships that provide a genuine learning experience, but this is rarely possible. Though internships are not necessarily academic, they provide work experience that is equally important for recent graduates. To inhibit internship participation is to effectively hinder students' potential to get a job after school.

The key change lies in the opportunity to distinguish the difference between work deserving of academic credit and work deserving of a satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade. Students already must seek a faculty sponsor for credit and demonstrate the academic merit of their experiences, but all internships should receive a pass/fail mark at the absolute minimum. Still, if it is time to step up the requirements for internship credit, such a change should not discriminate against those who cannot meet an arbitrary, outrageous expense.

The University has quite a choice to make. I can only hope that the threat of this impending disaster is not realized. As a student who has held a summer internship position, and plans to do so again, I am saddened to find that the Administration is so out of touch with its students.

--Brendan Schreiber is a sophomore political science major.

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