Program feeds grads to NGOs
Approximately 15 participating this summer
By Ben Baynton, staff writer
Posted on January 25, 2007

JMU’s political science department recently unveiled a new program to help JMU graduates and graduate students transition to a job at an international non-governmental organization like UNICEF.

“It provides a transition and entry point to the labor market,” said political science professor Charles Blake, coordinator of the international NGO program.

The summer program, which consists of four one-week classes followed by an internship, focuses on getting students away from the basic societal assumptions that people make every day based on their cultures.

“People have a tendency to assume that basic societal dynamics will stay the same,” Blake said.

The program was created with the help of a program advisory board that consists of three current employees of international NGOs, including Oxfam America, Chemonics International and the Fair Labor Association.

“We have a board of people who work with NGOs who helped us,” Blake said.

Part of the impetus for the creation of the program was concerns of the NGOs about new graduates who go directly into work with the NGOs.

“There is a growing number of JMU graduates going to work for NGOs,” Blake said. “There is a concern that graduates without a background in international NGOs are more at risk for burnout.”

The target group for this program is students who will graduate from JMU this spring and are hoping to work at an NGO. Graduate students are also targeted for this program.

Although the focus of the program is on international NGOs, a foreign language will not be required because many NGOs work in other English-speaking countries.

The program will cost approximately $3,000 for in-state students and $8,400 for out-of-state students. This includes 12 credit hours, but does not include room and board or a meal plan. Students must either provide their own housing or apply for a small studio apartment through JMU.

However, they are anticipating only having around 15 students in the program this summer.

“We’re not contemplating going over 20 students,” Blake said.

Although the program is only in its infancy, some students are already expressing interest.

“I’d consider it,” sophomore Varun Lal said. “There will be a lot of positive benefits from this program. “[NGOs] help open people’s eyes.”

Others are not so sure about whether this program would work for them.

“It’s a big time commitment, which is negative,” junior Shelly Smith said.

After the end of the four weeks of classes, students will go work for an NGO, where they will work at least 300 hours while doing some coursework for their JMU faculty supervisor.