The Undergraduate Senate passed a resolution on Feb. 15 to provide subsidies for student internships through the School of Public Affairs.
Some senators say the resolution will help ease the financial burden on students, specifically for the cost of transportation to and from unpaid internships.
Senator for the Campus At-Large Gregory Pratt, who sponsored the bill, met with SPA Associate Dean Jessica Waters last semester to discuss the possibility of internship subsidies. She told him to email her the resolution when it passed in the Senate, he said in the meeting.
“I thought the proposal was well-thought-out,” Waters said. “Now [the Dean’s office is] reviewing the proposal and figuring out whether we can set up the types of funds that the student government has recommended.”
The University requires Communication, Legal Institutions, Economics and Government majors to complete an internship in order to graduate, which is why if the resolution is adopted, the pilot program for the subsidies will be for the GOVT 391 class in SPA, according to the resolution. The class requires students to complete an internship and is necessary for CLEG majors, according to Pratt.
Pratt recommended the funds come from new donations from AU alumni in order to keep tuition as low as possible, he said during the Undergraduate Senate meeting.
“I think [implementing the resolution is] going to be an uphill battle, but I hope we get it achieved,” Pratt said.
Currently, AU does offer funds for SPA students who intern, according Waters. SPA provides two students interning in D.C. over the summer an award of $2,500 each, Waters said.
Recipients of these SPA funds must have strong academic standing, proof of their internship and proof of financial need, she said.
On average, students spend $432 per semester on transportation for their internships, according to Pratt. For some, those funds are hard to come by, he said.
Pratt also said he hopes that if the program is successful, then it would spread to the rest of the University’s schools.
The SPA Dean’s Office is currently reviewing the resolution, but Waters does not know how the program will be funded or organized, she said.
The amount of money students would receive would be determined by the administration and what resources they can allocate for the subsidies, according to Pratt.
The possible application process for subsidies would include completing an online form through an academic advisor, as well as students providing their GPA and proof of their internship, according to the resolution.
It is likely that the application would require GPA, according to Pratt.
“Unfortunately, because of how things work in life, especially AU policies, for financial aid and merit-based awards and need-based awards there is a GPA requirement,” Pratt said. “That’s how the system works so we can’t step around it.”
Pratt hopes that this subsidy will help boost AU’s already high internship rates.
“AU prides itself that 90 percent of people that graduate have an internship,” he said. “I hope that [with this subsidy] they have 100 percent of undergrads graduating having had internships,” he said.
