The Department of Political Science offers a public service track in the major for students interested in practical politics or public service, with a semester internship in a public agency as a capstone experience. The International Relations major offers internship opportunities, particularly in international business, in the United States and abroad. The College's partnership with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation through the recently created Cleveland Health Institute provides training and placements for Arts and Sciences students as well as advanced education and training for area health care professionals. With heavy demands for student research projects in the social sciences, the College has upgraded computer equipment, and installed software packages such as SPSS on departmental and laboratory computers. Sustaining intellectual interaction between faculty and students and among students themselves is a challenge in an urban, commuter institution.
Many daytime students leave right after class for their off-campus jobs.
Students attending evening classes have already put in a full day's worth of work off-campus. What goes on in the classroom, therefore, is of singular importance in fostering the kind of intellectual culture that students need in order to learn and develop their capacities for critical thinking and analysis. Many Arts and Sciences departments limit enrollment in selected courses for majors to provide more time for discussion, individual attention, or team projects among students. Several departments offer undergraduate or Honors seminars with a dialogue and discussion format in order to encourage intellectual interaction and the exchange of ideas. These seminars also require students to present the results of their own research, and challenge each other's ideas.