We believe in the power of encounter.
When it comes to strengthening one’s ethical decision-making muscles, there are few exercises more powerful than first-hand experience or dialogue with “those who have gone before.” At the Dundon-Berchtold Institute for Moral Formation and Applied Ethics, we seek to create space and facilitate opportunities for students (and faculty and staff) to wrestle with the real-life ethical tensions of their personal and professional worlds as they discern and hone their values in the pursuit of a coherent morality.
What does this look like? In one particular case, it takes the form of the Ethics and the Professions Internship (EPI) program. EPI is a paid 8-week summer internship in which undergraduate UP students are funded by the Dundon-Berchtold Institute and matched with Portland-area organizations who invite the interns into their teams for a two-month robust, project-based work experience.
On a practical level, interns gain real work experience, enhance their technical skills, participate in team meetings, and handle a range of projects depending on the mission of their host organization—everything from conducting research to generating marketing and media content to stewarding donor relations.
But EPI takes this enriching internship experience one step further. As part of the program’s intentional focus on ethics, EPI interns have a one-on-one conversation each week with a different member of their host organization around vocation and the moral moments of professional life. Themes in these conversations might include questions such as What does duty look like in your professional life? Does this organization have habits or protocols for ethical decision-making beyond mere compliance? How does your work life influence the person you are becoming?
“What intrigued me most about the EPI program was the opportunity to sit down each week for a 1-on-1 conversation with a working professional and engage in honest, open conversations about ethical dilemmas at work, organizational mission, culture, and decision making.“
-Lauren Carlos ‘21
Moreover, interns are often partnered with organizations whose field is outside of or tangential to the students’ specific academic majors and intended career paths. This diversified exposure—combined with the insightful weekly one-on-one ethical conversations—gives students “a preview of coming attractions”: they get to experience and observe early some of the ethical decisions and tensions that arise in work in general, regardless of what career they pursue.
In addition to interns’ 20 weekly hours of work, Dundon-Berchtold staff provide a formative accompanying experience to further enhance the impactful internship experience. The program design follows a carefully crafted arc of work-related themes, including organizational culture, ethical decision-making, teamwork, and feedback. Each intern has a weekly check-in with Dundon-Berchtold staff to reflect on their internship work and their one-on-one ethical conversations. The interns also meet regularly as a cohort to learn about each other’s experiences, hear from guest speakers, and dialogue about assigned readings on weekly themes. Each intern also has dedicated time each week to work on a summer-long Ethics Exploration project: an independent, informal research project on a topic of their choice related to ethics and work.
Summer 2020 was the inaugural season for the Ethics and the Professions Internship program. With the onset of the global pandemic, the intended in-person internship program was necessarily converted to an entirely remote teleworking experience. Thanks to the flexibility of the interns and the willingness and adaptability of the placement hosts, each of the 6 interns held a tele-internship at one of 4 partner organizations. Far from being minimized by the pivot to virtual, the interns’ experiences were filled with meaningful conversations, empowering work projects, and, for some, even concrete steps toward their next life adventures, such as law school, work as a courtroom clerk, and acceptance into AmeriCorps!
For students interested in applying for the Ethics and the Professions Internship program, details are available on the Dundon-Berchtold Institute’s internship webpage. The application window is open every January, and we have been delighted with the growing interest of so many students eager to be part of the 6-to-8-intern cohort.
“I applied for the Ethics and Professions Internship program because I wanted to analyze everyday work occurrences through a different lens. It was important to me that I was able to see the intention behind different actions, to identify the motivation driving someone or some policy. I wanted the opportunity to really reflect on the thought processes behind the work, and how to keep respect for both the people being served by the company and the employees within it.“
-Mollie Rutz ‘20
As part of the Dundon-Berchtold staff who accompany the EPI interns through their summer experiences, my colleague and I firmly believe we have the best jobs at the University of Portland. We get to dialogue with incredible students each week as they observe, discuss, and engage with the complex ethical fibers of the working world—and of life in general. Not only do they enrich their professional skillset, but their worldviews expand, their understanding and ownership of values deepen, and in many ways they catch a profound glimpse of the future self they want to become. It is truly a privilege to witness this chapter of students’ vocational journeys.
Hannah Pick currently serves as the Program Manager for the Dundon-Berchtold Institute. She primarily oversees the Institute’s student experience programs, research initiatives, professional development for young campus practitioners, and scholarly and marketing output. With a master’s in higher education and student development, Hannah has a passion for students’ holistic formation, academic success, and vocational discernment. When not at work, Hannah is an amateur community-theater actress, a freelance writer and editor, wife to a talented pianist/composer/music educator, and mom to a 6-month-old bundle of vitality and joy.