University of Virginia Library

Summer Jobs

A major objection which is
really an advantage is related to
jobs. On the surface, the summer is
the job time for students and if
they were required to go to school
then, how would they earn needed
cash? The answer is simple. Many
business firms, law offices and
government agencies currently hire
students the year-round. It is only
because most schools are on
vacation during the summer that
more jobs are available then. If
there were students seeking jobs
year-round potential employers
would adjust their hiring practices
and in the long run, more jobs
would become available. The
current situation of having large
numbers of students descend upon
the market from June to August is
unrealistic at best. In many
instances employers are forced to
make work for the summer help,
whereas their business requirements
are spread out throughout the
entire year.

A change such as has been
described here requires incredible
amounts of planning and inevitable
faces numerous hurdles. However
its merits are multitudinous and its
advantages appealing and
wide ranging. Unfortunately, it is
also the kind of idea that requires a
firm commitment from the
President, who must at the outset
appoint a special committee to
explore the particular aspects of the
plan and to formulate details. The
appointment of the committee is
only the beginning, for, as anyone
who has served on a committee
here will tell you, unless the
President's office is squarely behind
an idea, the road to success is more
dangerous than the road to Saigon.

It would be most unfortunate if
the University of Virginia is forever
shackled with traditional concepts
of education and scheduling, or
agrees to change only after it seems
that everyone else already has.
Innovation, experimentation, and
willingness to transcend the obvious
and go with the unusual or untried
have never been characteristics
fairly applied to the administration.
Maybe it's not too late to stop.
Surely Thomas Jefferson would be
disappointed with our present
stagnancy.