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~.· DIA KONIA PAIDEIA and the SO UTHE RN REGIO NAL EDUCATI ON BOARD RESOURC E DEVEL OPMENT INT ERNS HIP PROGR AM By Donald J. Ebe rl y The Resour c e De v elopm e nt Pro j ect of the Southern Re gi o na l Education Board o ff ers interns h ip app o intme nts to a I imited number of colle ge upp e rcl a s sm e_n and g raduate students who demonstrate an int e rest in the pr oce ss e s of social a n d econ o mic ch a n ge. The pr og ram is designed to · provid e service-learnin g e x peri e nc e s f o r students through assignments to specific projects of dev e l o pmental agencie s , community action pro g rams, a nd to oth e r l o cal, st a te, or r e g ion a l o r ga nizations conc e rne d with deve lo pment a l chan ge. Fi nanc i al s u p port i. s p r ovided by p ubl ic age n c i es i ntereste d in ec on o mi c de ve l opme nt, r eso ur ce de ve lopm e nt, co mmunity a ction a nd r e lated f i e ld s. The y includ e: Appalachian Re g i o na l Commission, Coas tal Plain s Reg ional Commis s ion, Economic Deve lopm e nt . Admini s tr a tion, Office o f Ec o no mic Opportuni ty a nd Te nn essee Valley Auth o rity. Th i s r e po rt, pr e pa red by Mr. Do na ld J. Ebe rl y, Ex e c ut ive Dir e ctor o f th e Nat ion a l Se rvi ce Sec r e t a ri a t, e v a lu ates th e SR EB Re s o ur ce Dev elopm en t Int e rn sh i p Pr og r ams and r eco mme nd s d i rec tio ns f o r f ut ur e se r vice l ea rnin g ac ti v ities. SO UTH ERN REG ION AL EDU CATI ON BOARD, Reso u rce Deve l o pment Pro j ect 130 S i xt h St ree t , N. W., Atl a nta, Geo r g i a 303 13 �DIAKONIA PAIDEIA AND THE RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS Donald J. Eberly It is useless to try to report on SREB's Resource Development Internship Programs (RDIP) in one dimension, albeit that is the traditional approach taken to problem solving. done, we hire someone to do it. If we want a job If we want someone to learn, we teach him and thereby, the assumption goes, he learns. I .f we want to promote university-community relations, we establish a Committee for the Promotion of Relations between the University and the Community. But that kind of uni-dimensional approach just won't work with the Internship Program. However, it is reassuring to note that if we took a series of snapshots of the program along different axes, we would see everyday occurrences. Looking along one dimension, we would see a person doing a job; along another, a person l ea rning in the field of la w or economics; along another, a person experiencing I ife in a poverty area for the first time; along sti I I another dimension, a person deciding upon a career. The Ii s t And so on. is a I ong one. The beauty and strength of the RDIP is that al I these th ings can happen to the same person at the same time, for the int er nship co ncept r ejec ts the no tion that learning can o c c u r ~ at schoo l as firmly as it does the notion that a job is a job, and has no business be ing examined against the writings of Plato, or Spinoza, or Frost, or Keynes, or King. �Yet there seems t o be no wo rd or phras e th a t captures the essence of thi s kind of service-learning program. occas ions, On such it has been he lpful to borrow from ancient Greek, as Norbert Wiener did in coming up th e the word "cyb e rnetics," to tr y to s ymbolize the project. In this paper we use diakonia an d paideia, t wo Gr eek p hrases th a t carry wit h th em the concepts of teaching and of learning thr o ug h activity, a nd of a style ife gear e d to contributing t o th e welfare of others. In our special shorthand,then, this paper is a report on the diakonia piadeia concept as impl e mented and a dministered by th e RDIP. It is based o n the writer's inter v i ews with several o f the interns, counselors, governm e nt officials and administrators, his attendance at RDIP conferenc es in of confidential 19 6 7 and 1968 , his perusal reports of progr a m participants, and his deliberate exposure to the diak o nia piadeia concept for th e past two decade s . Unf o rtun ate ly, the med ium in wh i ch this report is r ende re d does not permit a s imult a neou s exa min a t i o n o f a l I aspects of th e co ncep t and th e program, so it wi I I l ook sepa r ate ly a t thr ee major compo nents: manpower for se rvi c e , th e l e a rnin g as pec t, and communityuniver s it y r e l at i o ns hips. ponents meet; th e future. Th e n it wi 11 exp lor e a r eas whe r e al I com - name l y , program balances and imba l ances, fundi ng, and Th e r epo rt ass um e s th e k ind of f am i I iarit y with the p r ogram th a t can be obta in e d by r ea d in g th e 1966 and 196 7 r epor t s of the RDIP . Manpower for Serv i ce A fundamenta l change that i s occ urring i n th e Amer i can concept of wo rk was emphas iz ed by th e in t e rn s in their app li c a tion forms 2 �- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - -- - - - -- - -- - -- -- - - - -- - and evaluation reports. -- - - According to their statements, only three percent of the interns in 1967 and ments in order to get a job. 1968 sought internship appoint- The other 97 percent app Ii ed in order to: I. Relate academic theory to the real world 2. Contribute to developmental activities 3. Acquire research experience 4. Work with people 5. Help with career choice Traditionally, a job is something obtained to enable a person to make ends meet. One doesn't go to his job a minute early or re- main a minute overtime without remuneration. scorned. It is something to be One feels a sense of relief on Friday afternoon, and Monday morning is blue. Economists can control the flow of man- power into industries and services simply by regulating salaries and wages, because employees automatically seek the highest level of emoluments. John Kenneth Galbraith punctured this picture of a job when he noted, in The Affluent Society, that some middle-class college graduates would prefer low-pressure jobs in pleasant surroundings to better-paying jobs that involve high tension and time. long commuting It has been further punctured by some 25,000 Peace Corps Volunteers--most of them college graduates--who have sometimes chosen a primitive existence in a strange land at subsistent wages over more "attractive" offers at home. 3 And today it's being further - - ---. �deflated by thousands of ministers who turn down suburban churches for ghetto parishes, lawyers who choose legal aid help for the poor over prestige law firms, and business graduates who are more interested in a firm's social involvement than its corporate profits. Most interns appear to have similar attitudes. with meaning, where they can ~ They want a job learn and serve and work with people. The internship concept gives to government officials, private employers and educators an opportunity to transform the classical notion of a job into one that has the characteristics des~ribed above. Today's youth is searching for meaning and relevance and many have found that jobs can be structured to include these attributes by assigning much of the drudgery to automation. Many business and labor officials are actively concerned with restructuring jobs so that the worker performs more effectively and gains satisfaction from learning and serving. But there is I ittle evidence to suggest that the spirit which motivates such officials is at all pervasive, or that it stems from th a n a r eac ti o n to de ma nd s a nd e ve nt s . little more It s hould be c l ea r from r ece nt uph ea val s o n c ampu ses and in ma j o r c iti es th a t mo r e th a n "reacting" is required. Imagination and initiative is nee ded in the realm of tran s forming jobs into e x pe riences with greater meaning, relevance, and satisfaction for the worker. The intern- ship program offers an ideal setting . for such a transformation. Interns are y o ung . They possess the energy , imagination, ideal s a nd mo bi I it y of youth. Further, they serve only a short time ( 12 we ek s in the ca s e of RDIP) which permits a wide array o f e x peri me nts with little ri s k of loss from those which fail . 4 Als o, �internships occur at the inter f ace of the generati o n gap, and at a po int where the a c a demic world and the wo rld of wo r k meet. At t he same t i me, the in te rnship prog ram i s fa r fr o m et here a l Real wor k is done--real services performed. It was r eported. t hat research done by a two-man intern team was the basis of a $500, 0 00 g r a nt t o the ag e ncy where th e interns we r e eng a g e d. Anothe r 's r e - search contributed to passage of a new law in Tennessee which p ut contra Is on I oan sharks. We k now that in t erns under go rea I t r a in- ing and ca reer dev e lopment in t he fiel ds i n which t hey serv e . results can be seen in the intern's evaluation reports, Th ese in job offers received from their summer employers, and in changes in educational progr a ms s uch a s the s hift o f a law stud e nt's c aree r from c o r por ation l a w t o po ve rty l a w. With a firm foundation in manpower de velopment and accomplish- me nt o f us eful se rvice s , th e d iakonia pi ad ei a con cep t and th e RD IP's impl eme ntat i o n of i t g iv es t o da y's l ea de r s in bu s in es s, go v ernme nt, labor a nd education a model for the transformation o f the cla s sical notion of a j ob into one th at ha s me a nin g a nd rel e vanc e. I t al s o of f e r s a co nst ru ct iv e a lte rn ati ve t o t he co nfr o nt a t ion s t ak i ng p l ace ac ro ss t he nat i o n: pr ovid es in te rnship o pe nin gs for a l I y o ut h who s ee k t hem a nd a re wi I I in g t o pa rticip a t e. Wi th the c ha ng ing att i t u de toward jobs goes greater u npr ed ic t ab i I i t y abo ut j ob s . I t has rece ntly been reported th at 10 y ea r s ago ha l f of toda y' s jobs for co ll ege g radu ates d idn ' t e xis t . Whi l e we can g uess the f ut ure on the basis of extrapo l at i o n o f curre nt trends, hi sto r y s ug ges t s th a t mor e import a nt c r i t e r i a are sc i e ntifi c 5 �i discoveries and international events, ne it he r of which yield to ex trap o lation. We cann ot be very specific in att empt ing to define jobs that wi I I have to be performed in 1980. Hence it is a disservice to students and to society to regard th e tr a ining element of any educational program as a uni-dim ens ional assemb ly I in e operation. Rather, there must be several deg r ees of freedom within the training process to enabl e the stude nt to probe and explo re relat ed areas of interest, and to do so on his ow n initi ati v e . RD I P intern s seem to possess this freedom to a · greater degree than do their colleagues in other older intern programs. The traditional, voca tionally-orient ed int e rn pro grams (e.g., medicine, ed ucati on , publi c adm ini stration ) were seen by conferees a t a r ece nt RDIP Review Conference as over-programmed, offering too I ittle ex posure to o ther fi el d s , and g iving the int e rn I ittl e chance to free h im se lf from fee lin g l ike a s tudent. Th ere seems to have bee n v e ry I i tt l e mutual ex ploration be tween the RD I P orga ni ze rs a nd those who a dmini ster tradi tional intern ship p rogr ams. It would appea r t h a t both groups cou ld benefit from discussions and, perhaps, cooperati v e program s . Sim il a r exp l ora tor y discussions should occur with l eaders of stude nt- s ponsored co mmunity service project s, which ca n be found on mos t ca mpu se s . Typ ic a lly, th e s e are part-time pro g r a ms, with no academ i c credit given, with I ittl e academic conside r a ti o n of what i s observ e d whi l e serv ing, and with I ittle feedback t o the c las sroom. He r e aga in a l I partie s co u l d ben e fit from a mutu a l exp l o ration o f in t e r es t s a nd ac tivit i e s . 6 �One vital, unanswered question in the ma np owe r field ma ny jobs exist? is how Th is question should hav e high research priority becau se of its implications for the eventual magnitude of inter nship pro g rams. One or more smal I areas should b e s e lected and approaches made to al I organizations where int er n s might be placed t o determine how many co uld be used a nd i n what capacity . summer and academic yea r interns should be co ns id e red. Bo t h It is strongly suggested that this s urvey be I inked with a promis e of intern s for agenc i es which want them a nd are qua I ifi ed to r ece iv e them. Ju st another survey would mea n that some administrators would pul I numbers out of a hat or throw the s urv ey or out of the office in order t o get rid of a use l ess intrusion. To b e done properly, there mu st be c om- muni ty back ing, wide publicity, full s ur vey and , of co ur se , exp l a nat i o n, a c o mpr e hen s iv e intern s a nd funding. The Lea rning Dim e ns ion It i s wel I estab li shed that what is learn ed i n a n ed uc ationa l sett in g may bea r sma l I resemblance t o what i s t aught . An i nt e rn spe nd s ve ry I it t l e t im e i n a c l ass r oo m but mos t of the s um mer, wh e th e r he i s o n th e j ob , a t a coun se lin g sess i on , or in an int er n se min a r, is spe nt i n a l ea rnin g e nvironm en t. Th e same i s true of th e other fu l I-tim e par ti c i pa nt s , members of the SREB sta f f, and to a l esse r exte nt, of t he part-time pa rti c i pa nt s , th e cou n se l ors , s up erv i sors an d co nsu lt a nt s. Wha t , then, is l ea rn ed? Wr it te n rep o rt s and comments by a l I co nf erence pa rti c i pant s e mph as i ze th ese kinds of l ea rning: I. The part i c ipant l earns i nterpersona l s k i I l s whi ch c ontribute to be in g a n effec tive pe rs on, and discover s 7 �his strengths and weaknesses in sensitive situations. 2. 3. He learns the consequences of putting to the test his ideas conceived in a theoretical or vicarious setting. He learns how to identify a problem and bring appropriate resources to bear on its solution. 4. He learns what moves people and what prevents movement. 5. He learns something about the totality of facts and forces involved in resource development. 6. He learns strategies that can maximize service-learning opportunities for himself and others. 7. He learns some of the characteristics of the cooperative and competitive process and the strengths and wea·knesses of the two. 8. He learns that the actual accomplishment of something is inevitably more complex and difficult than is studying, planning, dreaming. 9. He learns how creative freedom and imaginative guidance can be combined in enabling a person to accomplish things and become a constructive force. 10. He learns of deficiencies in his regular academic work and feeds back this information to his academic col leagues. II. He learns vital -t-echniques in interviewing people, conducting research, and writing reports. 12. More prosaically, he gains knowledge of the one or several disciplines related to his assignment--knowledge that was not in the textbooks or lectures. Obviously there is overlap among the 12 types of described above. statements. learning Perhaps they could be fully covered in three Perhaps 30 statements are needed to differentiate sufficiently. The critical question is what produces these learnings? Some agency representatives and counselors participate in as many as seven different internship programs, yet they consistently and independently 8 �point to the RDIP program as having much the biggest "payoff." What strikes the observer as the prime ingredient came through most clearly in the dramatic presentation of a case study at the 1968 RDIP Review Conference. The lonely intern, surrounded by a supervisor who was pushing him to complete an application for a federal grant, a counselor from the university who was trying to pul I him into producing research data of interest to the counselor, and an attractive technical representative who was trying to lure him into an extended visit to her agency, turned to the RDIP official and asked, "Who am responsible to?" "You are responsible to yourself," came the reply. In short, an intern is seen by the RDIP staff as an adult and is treated in that manner. He is expected to give evidence of having learned without resorting to a multiple-choice exercise or the rephrasing of his counselor's pet theories. He is expected to seek outside aid while seeing that it remains secondary to his main project. Secondly, the RDIP insists on maintaining an even balance between service and learning. This attitude frustrates the impatient official and professor who think in only one dimension at a time. the real purpose," they demand, "to learn or to serve?" "What is When the answer "both" comes back, the inquirer is dumbfounded and may want no more to do with the idea. Receptivity for the concept is more I ikely to be found among those who have themselves experienced service-lea r ning and by those who commonly practice multi-dimensional thinking. Third , it's wel I managed . Interns show up at the appoint e d tim e, s tipends arrive on schedule, interns' 9 reports are publi s hed �as promised. This aspect does not require a detailed analysis, but must be included in a I ist of attributes because too many good concepts have foundered in the sludge of technical incompetence and mismanagement. Fourth, the seminars and reports appear to be valuable learning instruments. Several interns came to the seminars with problems they thought were unique to themselves, but discovered they were common to most of the other interns, and everyone benefitted from the ensuing discussion. Both seminars and reports produce some tension in interns because they must assume responsibi I ity for something that wi I I be pub Ii c I y assessed. On the who I e, the tension so produced does not seem inordinate; after the internships, some students look upon their responsibi I ities in the seminar or report writing as the most valuable part of the internship. Fifth, off-campus experience appears to be a crucial of the internship program. usual On campus, even in a work situation, th e protectiv e forces and pecking orders are at play. the intern encounters the real its unreasonableness, ingredient Off campus, world, with its loneliness, its demands, its rewards. Academic credit for internships is certainly justifiabl e on the basis of the above 12 points. learnin g process, although harmful in others. However, credit is no t essential to the it may be helpful in some cases and perhaps In 196 8 about 40 of the 150 interns received credit, although f e w expected it at the beginning of th ei r pr ogram. Whi I e the promise of academic credit might stimulate some intern s to learn more, it might constrain others from giving ful I reign to their ideas in deference to doing what they think wi I I produce the best grades. 10 �Of course, academic credit, intrinsic value. I ike a dollar bi 11, has no It is simply an arbitrary measuring device which is convenient to many people and institutions. Learning went on before academic credit was invented, and wi I I continue after it is discarded. But it exists, and must be considered. The way a student regards academic credit might provide a clue to its proper relationship to the internship program. The student who views credit requirements as a series of undesirable hurdles to be gotten rid of would benefit I ittle from receiving credit because that attitude by a student won't permit him to learn much as an intern. On the other hand, the student who regards academic credit as accurately reflecting the importance of a series of experiences appropriate to a person of his age and background and interests wi I I benefit from receiving credit because it wi I I be consistent with his outlook. Apart from the intern himself, academic credit for internships is a means of getting one's foot in the door of the academic establishment. The program can be I isted in the college catalogue and the administration can decide that counseling five lent of teaching a class of, say, 20 students. interns is the equivaThus, academic credit f o r i n t e r n s h i p s wo u I d g i v e t h e p r o g r a m i n sti t u t i o n a I b a c k i n g a s we I I a s higher esteem in the eyes of government officials and others who look for evidence of institutional support as a major index of the merits of a program. What has to be guarded against in this kind of situation is a slackening of standards. Un I ess more deta i I ed studies revea I that academic credit for internships leads systematically to a strengthening or weakening of learning, it is probably the course of wisdom to continue the II �practice of treating each case on its merits. At the same time, RDIP officials should remain responsive to requ es ts f or help in handling the i ss ue o f a cademic credit. Two factors that one might assume to be crucial are no t . One, the nature or content of the intern's assignment is not ne cessarily important. For example, a chemistry st udent conducted a survey of count y p urchasing procedures and i n so doing pr od uc ed a usefu I document for th e agency. had learn e d a great deal. He came away fee Ii ng that he Two, it' s not necessa rily i mportant whether the agency where the intern works is efficient or inefficient, whether his supervisor is strong or wea k . Each kind of situation provid es a se tting for a learning expe rienc e , given th e int e r es t of th e int er n a nd the s upp o r t a nd g uidanc e of the counselor. What i s import ant in r ega rd to the prece din g pa r agraph- - an d thi s gets us bac k to th e hea rt o f th e co nc e pt--i s that th e total o pe ratio n not be th o ught of as the addition of its part s , in wh ich a " g ood" age ncy i s rated +2, a ba d s up erv i s o r as - 3, b ut as a process th a t in cl ud es a multitud e of i nt e r-r e l ationsh i ps . This ho li s tic perspe ct iv e i s he ld by me mb e r s of the SREB staff and many ot hers involv ed in th e int e rn s hip program. prog r a m nee d no t An app li ca nt for a n int ern have i t, but many ac quir e it i n th e cour se of the i r in t e r ns hip, a s i s e vid e nt from th e i r r e port s . "Th e university a nd publi c se rvi ce" has been t he s ubj ect of a much p u b I i c i ze d, o n- a nd -off de bat e in rece nt mo nth s a mo ng s uch me n a s J ac qu es Barz un, C l ark Ke rr, Al a n P i f e r a nd Ma rk Rudd. It i s di sappo in t in g that the debat es ha v e emphasized the ro l e of the univ e r s i t y in provid i ng in s titutiona l s upport for pres um a bly benef i c i a l 12 �programs, to the virtual exclusion of the importance of community service by staff, faculty, and students in the performance of i t s teaching function. Whether, how much, and how the university as an institution should serve the community may be debatable issues. univ e rsity should be a seat of learning is not. Whether the The embarrassing question for educators is how do you expect to prepare your students to become competent in their fields, and more importantly, to become effective and constructive·citizens unless you arrange for the m to experience me a ningful involvement in the real world and to reflect upon this involvement in the company of your learned faculty? Wi 11 iam James tel Is us that readin g and I is ten in g can enable us to kno w about something but not to know it un t i I we have experience d it. For example, it has been reported that a full-year internship for Ethiopian university students typically teachin g i n village schools a dd ed nothing to the st ud e nt s ' a waren ess of rur a l pov e rty a nd its associated problems. But what did happen to the average intern was that he move d from the level of awareness to the level of commitment to do someth in g about rur a l poverty. In t he Unit e d St a t es, the pr ob l ems of today a nd tomorrow ca n be id ent i f i ed throug h a waren ess, but th e y cannot be solved without commitment. For un iv ers ity l eaders who co ns i der k nowin g someth i ng to be a hi gher form of l ear nin g than mer e ly know in g abo ut something, the tim e has c ome to intro duce internships of the RDIP type as an in tegra l part of the l ear nin g process. The Univer s ity a nd th e Commun i t y As with the awarding o f academic cred it , the fostering of university-community re l ationships is almost impo ssible to institu tionalize from the outside. Clearly the t hru st of RDIP inte rest is 13 �to move beyond the traditional town-grown k ind of relationship common to academic institutions At one int o patterns of r ea l pa rticip ation . university, businessmen and others in the commun it y serve as visiting lecturer s and discussants and are common Mu c h more I isted in the cata l ogue . i s the practice of pr of essors engaging th e mselv es , sometimes with pay a nd sometimes with out , in commun it y affa irs. The RD I P is anothe r brid ge between community and uni ve rsit y ove r wh ich mutual pa rticipation can flourish. At the RDIP Rev iew Conference in the fa! I of 1968 , most of th e discussion on uni ve rsity-community r e lationship s ce nter e d around strategies for ex panding the RD I P type of internship program. Con- ferees were unanimous in urgin g p ro g r a m ex pansi on , but RDIP officials cautioned that, as presently co n s tituted, been rea c hed it s cei I in g h as a lmost in t e rms of administrative capability. It was ge nerally ag r eed that some k ind of decentr a lization was i n o r de r, but where respons i bi l it y shou ld r es t major dis ag r ee me nt. was a po int of The case f o r uni vers i ty admin i st r atio n was espo use d by thos e who saw the int e rnship s as primari l y a l ea rnin g ex peri ence , a nd who be li ev ed th a t th e l ea rnin g dimens i on would with e r away under auspices ou tsid e the univers i ty. suggested th a t university studen t s be i nvo l ved and administrat i on. A l so, was i n progra m pol i cy One p rob l em , of course , wou l d be th e o f th e program in th e uni ve r s it y. it l oc ation For exam ple, one wo uld env i s i o n the t y pe of program administered by the Sc hoo l of Pub I i c Hea lth , and qu it e another t ype by th e Schoo l of Education. Perso n s who argued fo r s tat e spo n so r ship seemed to fee l that a state agency would maintain a better ba l ance of 14 interes t s between �doing a job (many of the age ncies where int e rn s serve are staterelated) and learning. (Most interns serve in their r espe ctive states so the states have a vested int e r e st in them as human res o urces.) What i s so clear is that the SREB-RDIP has the confidence of al I parties in the int e rn program and a ny new agency , wherever it is based, wi I I be suspect by o ne or mo r e parties, perh aps to th e extent that it would neve r be able to get off the ground. Further, any a ttem pt to create an enti r e l y new set of agenc ie s wou l-d g i ve ris e to in-fighting th at cou ld wel I defeat th e program. Given the mag nitude of goo d wi I I a nd b r ea dth of s upport f or the program, SR EB- RD IP will be delinquent in i ts resp o ns i b ility to the So uth, a nd to th e na ti on, central if it fai I s to co ntinu e t o play a r o l e in bui I ding the i nternsh i p program. don e in ways that do no t Thi s can be neces s ar ily mea n a grea tl y expanded ad mini st r a ti ve rol e for the RD IP. For exa mpl e , t he RD IP co uld es tab Ii sh gu id e Ii nes for int e rnships, ac t as a co nd uit of fu n ds for program s , a nd evaluate programs. This kind of arrangement wou ld pe rmi t a variety of sponsors~ - a university he r e, a sta t e agency ther e --t o evo l ve on the basis of merit a nd in the image of th e SREB-RD IP . Another poss i bi I it y wou l d be for the RD I P to create or to co ntract to a se parate agency the bulk of administrative c hor es whi ch it present l y car ri es. In this way, th e RD I P cou l d maintain its present smal I staff who cou ld conce r n them se lves with kee ping on the right track a grea tl y ex panded internship program. 15 �Ba l a nces and Imbal a nc es To return to th e multi-dim e nsi o nal p r o g r· a m, it v i e w of the intern ship i s o b v i o u s t h a t a n u mb e r o f b a I a n c i n g a c t s mu s t ca rried on simultan eously . be Among th ese are : I. A ba lanc e between e l ements of ri g i d i t y , e . g ., the writing o f r epo rt s o n sc h ed ul e , a n d e l eme nt s of flexibilit y , e .g., scope fo r int er n ini tia ti ve 2. A balance between the int e rn' s pa r t i cu l a r assign ment a nd exp os ur e to new fields and situations 3. A balan ce betwe e n mak ing s uit ab l e a rran geme nts for l e arnin g t o occ ur, b ut no t makin g thi ngs so easy_ that I ii"tl ~ o r no l ea rning wi 11 occur 4. 5. A bal a nce be twee n a n int ern ' s pe rf o rmin g a u sefu l ta sk and ga inin g know l e dge and wi sdo m A ba lanc e whee l t o ma int a in a dynamic equ i I i b rium amo ng th e pr og ram ob j ect i ves a nd amo ng the sometimes competin g forces th at c om e int o p l ay (R ev i ew Conference part i cip a nt s fe lt that SR EB- RD IP is just th e ri g ht kind of balanc e whee l) Two impo rt ant as pects of the i nte rn sh i p p r og ram see m to be se r i o u s l y out o f ba l ance : th e pr o gr a m i s f a r too s mall wi th th e nee d fo r it a nd i t appea rs to receive its mo ney from so urc es o ut of propo rti o n t o the r etu rn s . kind o f in co mpari so n Fo r r easo ns c i ted ea rli e r, thi s i nte rn s h i p i s on e that s ho uld be wi t hi n r ea ch o f e ve r y co ll ege a nd univ e r s it y student , a l I 6 , 000 ,0 00 of t he m. I t s hou ld not be r es trict ed t o o ne reg i o n of the country, no r t o s tu de nt s who just happen to hear about it. It is certainly not foreseen that e very st ud e nt wi I I want to par ti c i pate in thi s prog r am, for some a re in a position to se t up their own i nternships a nd others wi I I pref e r a lt e rnative us es o f tim e. But no o ne s ho u l d be exc lud e d from th i s kind o f experience s impl y for l ac k o f fund s, 16 inf o rmati o n , job �openings, supervision, or counseling. To try to analyze costs and benefits is difficult because of several unknowns. We do not know, for example, what overhead costs to assign to the participating university or host agency. We do not know what dollar value to assign as the benefits of an internship received by the federal or state government or by the university. In spite of these unknowns, certain conclusions can be drawn from what we do know, and from assumptions that seem reasonable. Not every case yields a savings comparable to the two-man team which, at a total cost of $5,000, completed an analysis and report which the host agency had been prepared to contract out at a cost of $51,000. But reports from supervisors and others give clear evidence that the overwhelming majority of interns make a contribution to the host agency at least equivalent to the stipend they receive as interns. Only in a minority of internships does the host agency even make a contribution to the stipend. The first conclusion, then, is that ful I payment of the intern's stipend by the host agency is economically justifiable. We also know that the internship process generates a significant amount of I earning by the intern. This outcome is seen in the award- ing of academic credit to interns, and in report s of the interns and their advisors. \lvhile impossible to quantify exactly, to be fairly comparable to what is it would seem learned in half a normal semester. Judging by tuition charges at institutions receiving the lowest amounts of pub I ic subsidies, the cost to the student of a halfterm's learning is at least $500. Hence, the second conclusion is that the amount of relevant learning derived from the internship pro c ess 17 �justifies ful I payment of the universit y co unsel or 's fee ($30 0) by the university. (Also, th e university ove rhe a d appear s to be at l eas t offs e t by th e learning gained by the profes so r and benefits ga ined by the instituti o n, as a consequence of participatio~ in the int e rnship program.) Be nefits to the several governments--federal, s tat e a nd local--are more general. The expectation is that interns wi I I sel ect careers consi ste nt with the needs o f society, that they wi I I be be tter citizens a nd mor e productive members of the eco no my . Whether or not these expectations materialize wi I I not be known for 20 o r more years. At this stage, it ca n be report e d that the intern- ship process i s having th e kind of e ff ect on intern s that th ey are mov in g themselves in t he se direction s . He re ag a in, qua ntifi cati o n is impossibl e , but in c o mparison with th e magnitude o f pub I ic s upport for clas s r o o m educat i on , and conside rin g the a s s umpti ons u po n which it i s bas ed , financial s upp ort for e xp e riential e ducation o f th e RDIP vari ety ce rtainly appears to be a bett er inv est ment than s uppo rt fo r c l assroo m e du cation. The obj e ct iv e s hould be to achie ve a prop e r balanc e be tween c l ass r oom an d ex pe ri e nti a l e ducation which, i n f i nanc i a l terms, wi I I be reach e d when t he rat es o f r e turn on inv estm e nt become eq ua l. I n a dd iti on to th e f e de ral a g e nc i es supportin g th e RD I P, exp e rime nt a t i o n with th e d i a ko n i a paid e i a co nc e pt c a n b e f o und i n s uc h programs as the Peac e Co rps, Co ll ege Work-Study Program , Neighborhood Yo uth Co rp s , J o b Co rp s , VI STA a nd Teac he r Co rp s . Thi s ex pe r i me nt a ti o n s ho uld co ntinu e , a nd c ha nges sho ul d be ma de wh e r e nee de d . 18 �From where this observer stands, the RDIP offers a unique experiment in the diakonia paideia concept and, as may be inferred from foregoing observations, more advanced than other experiments in several financial important respects. Hence, wh i I e a re-a Ii gnment of support is appropriate, continued support from govern- ment agencies is warranted during this experimental period. As the internship program becomes institutionalized, it should endeavor to alter its support pattern in three ways, as fol lows: I. The university should cover the cost of fees for the counselors and should assume a greater role in ·the recruitment of interns, development of projects, seminars and report writing. 2. fhe host agency should pay a share of the intern's stipend that reflects the real worth of the intern to the agency, but not so much as to make the agency feel it can exert an employer's control over the in""' tern. Thus, the agency's contribution should always be less than the salary or wage a regular employee would receive for doing the intern's job. Using these criteria, a typical agency could be expected to contribute from 50 percent to 75 percent of the intern's allowance. 3. Government, at al] three levels, should provide general purpose support of sufficient magnitude to enable researchers to determine the appropriate balance between classroom education and experiential education for college and university students. In addition to altering the support pattern, SREB should look for savings. Consider the team concept. A team of four interns could have one basic task, one university counselor, and one technical advisor, and write a single report, thereby reducing the number of consultants by 75 percent. Another saving in scale should result from more concentrated recruitm e nt and placement efforts. for The administrative backstopping 100 interns from one campus or at one agency should be only a 19 �fraction of the present administrative costs for one intern multiplied by 100. One important funding feature to retain is use of SREB as a conduit of funds. Both the government agencies and the ~niversities much prefer dealing with one place having fiscal severa I. responsibility than Of course, SREB does not want to become a large operating agency, but there is really I ittle problem here because the SREBRDIP could allocate funds just as foundations do. Project submissions could be made to the SREB- RDIP for approval, payment and evaluation. Much of the legwork now done by the RDIP staff could be assumed by the institutions submitting the projects. The Future The i nevitabi I ity of change is truer today than ever, for changes occur more quickly than before. o f st a gn a tion. Yet the RDIP is in dan g er As pre se ntly c on s ti t uted a nd sponsored, th e num e ri c c e i I ing has bee n r ea ch e d a nd, bec a use o f g e ne r a l p r ogr a m ex c e ll e nc e , qualit a tive chang e s can be expected t o l e ad to incre mental impr o v e - ment o n ly. Giv e n thi s r at her co ns tr a inin g s itu a tion, wh a t s ho uld be the future c ourse of the RDIP? In r e viewing th e observations and sugges- ti o ns co nt a in e d in thi s pa pe r, th e f o ll o wing activitie s s ho ul d be ca r e fully co n s id e r e d : I. Ex periment with larger-scale pr o grams. This a cademi c year, pursue ag g re s siv e ly the po s sibilities for l a rger pr og r a ms in No rth Ca rolin a, Geo r g i a, and Atl a nt a . Nex t ye a r , co nce ntr ate o n o ne o r t wo ca mpu ses, gua r a nt ee in ter ns hi ps to a l I wh o gen uin e ly see k the m, d i sc o ver wh a t pe r ce ntage of st u de nts co me fo rw a rd . At t he sa me t im e , sa tur ate a co mmuni t y o r r eg i o n to de t e rm in e t h e num ber of in t e rn s h i ps a v a i l a b l e In c lude se mes te r- l o ng and aca dem i ca mong a g iven popul a ti o n . yea r int er ns hi p s . 20 �l 2. Encourag e campuses to share the counselor's allowanc e and agencies the intern's allowance. 3• Encourage universities, agencies, and consortia to sponsor internship projects on their own, but tied in with the RDIP tor standards, consultations an~, where appropriate, funds. 4. Spread the word. Proceed with the conf ere nce being planned for 196 9. Invite a few r epresentat ives from outside the domain of SREB. Make it a setting for the strongest kind of endorsement possible f o r the RDIP program and discuss future plans. 21 �