As part of ongoing budget cuts, the University of Oregon has cancelled the journalism school’s Portland Senior Experience internship program for this fall. The program will be back in spring 2018, according to Pat Curtin, associate dean for undergraduate affairs.
The Portland Senior Experience, or PDXSX, is offered to students in their last term at the School of Journalism and Communication. The program offers academic credit as well as on the job training. According to the PDXSX blog, more than 75 percent of all participants had internships extended or were offered full-time employment upon graduation.
The program is available to students in all four majors in the SOJC: public relations, media studies, advertising and journalism.
More than 225 students have received internships through this program, and most of the interns are paid. The program accepts around 25 to 35 students each cycle and runs every fall and spring.
In addition to cancelling PDXSX this fall, the SOJC cut Programs Director Josh Netzer’s hours in order to save money. Netzer was in charge of coordinating the program.
Curtin explained that because the classes offered during the internship often only have two to three students, the SOJC can’t fund the program this term. The program will be retooled so that it will be covered by the new budget and Curtin is confident the program will be offered to students next spring.
In April, the SOJC announced that five non-tenure faculty would be laid off.
Every department on campus is slashing its budget due to a number of factors. The state of Oregon held funding for higher education this year, a move administrators say is effectively a cut to funding, and as a result UO has made cuts in nearly every department and still remains about $8.8 million in debt.
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