The idea of creating and managing an academic degree may seem foreign to the average college student, but this is essentially the concept promoted by the University of Alabama’s New College Community-Based Research Internship Program.

Neil Berty and former UA president David Matthews founded New College in 1971 with the principal objective “to serve as an experimental unit with the expectation of exporting successful innovations to other sectors of the University.” What resulted was a nationally acknowledged and award-winning interdisciplinary program that now boasts 250 students.

New College generates personalized degree options by equipping its students with community service programs, internship opportunities and hands-on experience. In New College, students have access to essentially all UA courses and are allowed to develop original independent study courses.

New College students are paired with faculty mentors who oversee their advancement. Like the academic advisors available to students following traditional degree plans, faculty mentors meet with their students each semester to ensure their progression toward graduation.

Because hands-on training is a key component of earning a New College degree, students are obligated to participate in a number of community service and internship programs.

Senior Laura Metcalf joined New College in the spring semester of her freshman year and said she participated in an internship in Walker over the summer, during which she lived in a transitional living facility in Jasper and worked with nonprofits in the area.

Metcalf was also involved in an independent study with First Teachers@Home, a program that teaches parenting skills to low-income parents and prepares their children for elementary school, as well as volunteering efforts in local elementary schools with New College through the ARTS program and Tuscaloosa’s One Place.

“It was a wonderful chance to become part of a community and to work with community members to address things they see as issues,” Metcalf said.

Jerry Rosenberg, a UA psychology professor, said students in New College should have no apprehension about their career options.

“Our students have gone off to become doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs – I mean, the works,” Rosenberg said.

“The thing that employers look for most when they’re hiring is a recommendation from the sponsor of a successful internship,” said Ellen Spears, an associate professor in the Department of American Studies. “One clear advantage [to New College] is the extensive mentoring that students receive to design a personally created, academically sound program of study.”