We have received a lot of questions from students, faculty, and admin regarding internships. We've collected some resources regarding this issue.

First, the GRU contract does not prohibit students from doing internships. GRs can, according to our contract, "engage in outside work so long as they remain in good academic standing, subject to the rules and requirements of external funding sources" (Article 8.2). School of Nursing GRs do have a maximum of 12-hrs per week of work outside their programs (Article 8.2.1). You can read our entire contract here. If you ever have any questions about the contract email [email protected].

Now, what is required is that GRs must be full-time in their research training (classes, reading papers, work at the bench, etc.), with full time defined as 40-hrs per week (Article 10.1). Now of note, GRs are permitted to work more than 40-hrs per week if their degree requires it and the GR is willing (Article 10.2).
This leads to three options:
1.    GRs can take an internship in addition to their 40-hrs of OHSU work.
2. In the School of Medicine, if the internship opportunity is not related to research training, and it will lead to less than 40-hrs of OHSU work the GR will not be prohibited from participating in the internship opportunity but may be required to take a Leave of Absence per the OHSU policy.
Note that Leave of Absence causes an end of GR status and union membership. This means in addition to losing stipends GRs will lose health benefits. These benefits cannot be restored mid-academic quarter, so be careful regarding dates. More details can be found in the contract or by contacting [email protected]
3. GRs may be eligible to pursue an internship opportunity as part of their research training. This would allow them to earn academic credit for the internship opportunity and contribute to their total hours of research training.

Whether or not your internship qualifies for the last option is determined by the OHSU policy below:
 “Internships are determined by school policy and procedures and will be assessed on a case-by-case situation. Faculty and Graduate Researchers should contact [email protected] to discuss individual internship requests."

The [email protected] is managed by Alexis Young, who is the OHSU program administrator for all graduate researchers.

The policy can be found on the GR FAQ Smartsheet here. This policy can also be found on O2 by searching for graduate researchers, clicking the Graduate Researchers | Graduate Researchers link. Then click on the link FAQ for GRs, it is under the stipend section.

We understand that these options are not sufficient for GRs and are working to improve the clarity and support for internships in our next contract. Bargaining is currently underway and if you would like to support us in this consider becoming a dues paying member by filling out the online form here. We are Local 402 and remember, only dues paying members have the ability to vote on our next contract!