While many members of the Class of 2008 will spend their summers scouring newspaper classifieds in search of employment, roughly 150 returning undergraduates got some help in their summer employment from Tufts. The university will pay these students to work at internships and projects around the country and across the globe.
Between the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, Career Services and the Institute for Global Leadership (IGL), university programs awarded approximately $300,000 this spring to help students pursue various summer activities, from forming a soccer league in Haiti to simply gaining work experience in a career path.
The Tisch College's Active Citizen Summer (ACS) program will sponsor 47 students, or "fellows," in community service-based positions this summer, according to Gary Van Deurse, the program manager. Career Services will sponsor another 38 students in more career-oriented positions, according to Director Jean Papalia.
The IGL will sponsor the most students this summer, sending nearly 70 to leadership programs across the globe, according to Director Sherman Teichman.
Tufts saw a rise in the number of students applying for all these summer programs this year. Each program had difficulty meeting the demand for scholarships and was only able to award them to a select group.
"This year, we had about 10 times as much requests as we had ability to fund," Van Deurse said of the ACS program. "The good news is we're looking to grow the program for next year."
For EXPOSURE - a photojournalism, documentary studies and human rights program run through the IGL - only one of every two students that applied could be accepted.
"There's an increasing demand every year," Teichman said. "It's exactly what we expect and hope for."
According to Van Deurse, ACS works to connect students with ways to be involved in their local and even global communities.
"The goal of ACS is to provide active citizenship programs for all Tufts students during the summertime. It's really a continuation of the work that the Tisch College does during the academic year," he said. "Through the program, all students will receive a stipend, and staff at the Tisch College will be in contact to offer support."
ACS awards several types of scholarships, including funding for pre-arranged programs in Somerville, alumni-organized programs in Washington, D.C. and student-arranged international programs.
Van Deurse said that while the international program tends to be the most popular, all of the programs are receiving more applicants as more students find out about the programs.
The internship grants sponsored by Career Services are more focused on introducing students to their prospective work fields. "We want students to have the opportunity to get great experience and make a little money," Papalia said.
Although the Career Services grants are only three years old, the program has a competitive applicant pool, with 65 students applying for the 38 grants. According to Papalia, more upperclassmen tend to receive grants than underclassmen.
IGL offers a different approach to the summer, with programs encouraging students to get out of the office and into the field.
According to Teichman, students sponsored by IGL will be traveling around the world this summer, working in countries such as France, Haiti, Uganda, Cambodia, Jordan, Nigeria and Chile.
The application process for an IGL program is rigorous, according to Teichman.
"It's very intensive. There's a tremendous amount of precursory work, but students are supported along the way," he said.
In all, the three programs appear to be growing and expanding each year. "The large amount of applications that we [received] is really representative of Tufts students' interest in the programs," Van Deurse said.
