Apparently, you can't fight City Hall. According to the New York State Department of Labor, some historical problem with "slavery" has encouraged legislators to ban any unpaid internship that doesn't compensate with college credit. I can't legally waive this right to be compensated (see "Rand, Ayn"), and this places an unfortunate restriction on the internship opportunities available to Dartmouth students.
This winter, after weeks of setting up an internship with a prominent television network, I had to bury my hopes. Dartmouth refuses to give credit for any internships.
Fortunately, my consequent scapegoating crusade -- fueled by many mental images of burning an effigy of the Registrar in Times Square -- prompted me to seek help from the College.
However, while Sara Gonzalez from the Registrar's office and Maria Waite from Career Services were both immensely supportive and helpful, neither was able to do anything to counter the College's academic credit policy.
The fundamental problem with this policy is that most of the internships offered to college students are unpaid. Toss in the Department of Labor's demand that any work be compensated, and Dartmouth's policy explicitly prevents students from accessing many outside-the-classroom educational opportunities.
I understand that no experience can match the excellence of our classroom learning (or be as well-monitored), but how can Dartmouth ever advertise its D-plan as a wonderful chance for a shot at an off-term internship without legally providing students with the means to gain one? A "Letter of Support" from the Dean, which explains the benefits of the experience of an internship, can be sent to employers. According to a representative from the Albany DOL, however, any business harboring unpaid, non-credited interns is blatantly breaking United States labor laws.
Nevertheless, term after term, many students do manage to find unpaid internships without getting credit for them. If my assertions are correct, why do several businesses jeopardize themselves for their interns? Several prominent employers are home to unpaid interns -- even the guiltless U.S. Justice Department and the State Department. The explanation, according to the DOL, is that only a filed complaint will attract the attention of its attorneys.
In Dartmouth's defense, there are College programs that fund unpaid internships; however, these initiatives are quite specific. For example, the Rockefeller Center funds public policy-related internships, the Tucker Foundation offers money for experiences that support "moral or spiritual development," respectively. In addition, it's hard to tell whether these scholarships would even be considered legal under Department of Labor standards for hours, considering that the employer is not compensating the worker for their labor; the DOL, of course, would only investigate the issue if a complaint were filed.
More pragmatically, if hundreds of students are off-campus and looking for internships, the funding certainly cannot meet the demand. Instead of a monetary solution, why doesn't Dartmouth go for a credit-based one that would assuage DOL standards?
I hereby challenge the College to consider changing its policy on academic credit for internships. The College obviously feels that our courses here are uniquely valuable, and I respect that. But for the sake of students like me, suffering in the trenches of a terrible job market flooded with unpaid internships, is there no alternative?
Businesses, in an effort to protect themselves, just need a letter confirming that a student is getting compensated -- for a legal defense against a complaint that can only be filed by the student trying to get the job in the first place. Is there any chance that our school, in the interest of its students, could create compensation that is not necessary to graduate, but that can still be considered an auxiliary academic "credit?" We need 35 credits. Why not create a 36th, intended solely to give us the opportunity to work for no pay?
The 36th credit could be an "intern credit," worth nothing but a legal waiver for businesses who want us to work for them -- a credit that can't count as a class, but that represents College compensation for the sake of businesses. This is the essential goal of the "Letter of Support." The College should make it functional.
For some reason, I can't work for free. Dartmouth, enable my enslavement.
