By Kate Augusto

Emily Turner, a middler international affairs major, said she dreams of doing her next co-op in another country. “It would be amazing. Just look at the world today, it’s so interconnected. When you get out into the real world, jobs aren’t going to be limited to the US, especially with globalization and technology,” Turner said. The problem is, she can’t afford to fund the experience. “International business co-ops usually pay well but the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) doesn’t get the benefits of that sort of thing because the places we work for are governmental and don’t [have a lot of funding],” Turner said. “The whole point [of co-op] is that we have that competitive edge. We’re not just interns for two months, we’re there full time. We deserve to get compensated for that.” Turner is the recent founder of the informal student group Paid International Educational Experiences. Though the group hasn’t had a face-to-face meeting yet, its Facebook group has 96 members and Turner is planning to meet with several faculty and administration members to work toward her goal. She also brought her concerns to President Joseph Aoun at an open forum last semester. At this forum, President Aoun told her that international opportunities were already on the rise, and expanding them was of institutional interest. Turner said she hopes to acquire funds from donors or the school to compensate students who do participate in unpaid international co-ops through scholarships or stipends. Ketty Rosenfeld, director of international co-op, said the Office of International Co-op has little negotiation power when it comes to student payment, so an outside source would be needed. John Roper, a middler entrepreneurship and small venture management major, is working through the Student Government Association to expand students’ international education opportunities, including creating more paid international co-ops. However, he said even paid international co-ops don’t pay students a lot. “International co-ops are different from domestic co-ops. Students have to sell themselves and compete with students in that country,” Roper said. “Why would a company pay for someone to go to France when there are students already there?” Jim Stellar, CAS dean, said he’s aware of the need to expand international paid experiences and said he plans to start doing this by acquiring funds to pay for international co-op students’ flights and assuring they have housing and food paid for. This would put international co-ops on the same level as domestic co-ops, since students tend to spend their money on housing and food or there anyway, Stellar said. Stellar said unpaid international co-op students may have less of an opportunity to gain real world working experience since no money is being budgeted to pay for them. Philomena Mantella, vice president of enrollment and student life, said expanding international co-op opportunities fits in with the future of the university and a recognition that students are graduating into a global society. Mantella said Northeastern’s approach to learning has to mirror that. She also said that the administration is interested in being as supportive as they can in looking at opportunities. “I think there’s some practical issues that students are dealing with in terms of how to fit [international co-op] in and financial support they need and finding and securing [that],” Mantella said. After a meeting with Mantella, Turner said she plans to talk to some other students and find a few specific international organizations they’d like to work for so there’s more structure to bring to the donors. Though these plans are geared toward international affairs majors, Stellar assures that all CAS students would see the benefits of any changes. Turner is also working to have an alumni dinner for international affairs students to possibly foster more donations. Part of Turner’s motivation comes from the fact that Aoun has said he’s interested in increasing international opportunities. Mantella said the institution is interested in supporting this. “I think the next step from my perspective would be to look at ways to support student housing issues and ways to support connections to the institution,” Mantella said.