When sophomore Courtney Flick holds a hedgehog or an armadillo, the sophomore biology major knows she’s getting an experience she won’t receive in any classroom.

In fact, she said the hands-on training she gets twice a week as a keeper’s aid at the National Zoological Park is equally valuable to her future in veterinary medicine as the hours she spends in school.

Eighty-four percent of GW undergraduates share Flick’s drive to learn outside the classroom, according to a 1997 report by GW’s office of enrollment research and retention.

About half the student body was surveyed to examine the way GW undergraduates split time between academics, employment and leisure.

Survey results are presented in the report to help understand the dynamics of GW students and their connection with the D.C. community, said Cheryl Beil, director of enrollment research and retention.

“The purpose of the report is to get a sense of how students are spending their time. The report talks about the benefits, but also raises the concerns . of students’ (heavy) involvement in experiential learning, like internships, co-ops and volunteering,” Beil said.

The report says four out of five undergraduates were involved in at least one out-of-classroom experience during their undergraduate years. Two out of three students had at least one paying job, one in three held an internship and two in five volunteer.

Beil said one purpose of the report is to give faculty members and prospective students a clearer profile of the typical GW student – a student who is atypical at other universities.

Only 16 percent of the students surveyed had not worked or participated in any experiential learning activity while enrolled at GW, according to the report.

Balancing actFlick, who has interned at the National Zoo since September, is an example of the “highly motivated student GW attracts . students who want to make the most of GW and their Washington experience,” Beil said.

The report broke down the weekly schedules of students like Flick, who balance a full-time class schedule, membership in student organizations and internships.

During a typical week, an undergraduate student will spend 54 to 59 hours attending classes, studying and working at a part- or half-time internship or volunteer job, according to the study.

And students are more active than ever before. Since 1991, when GW conducted a similar survey, students have crammed even more into already tight schedules.

A comparison of the 1991 and 1997 studies shows the largest increase in participation has been in internships – the percentage of students who interned during the course of their undergraduate years at GW increased from 23 percent in 1991 to 31 percent in 1996.

That statistic could explain why students in the survey said they spend an average of 15 hours a week – about two hours a day – studying for a full courseload.

In its 1997 ratings of American universities, The Princeton Review reported that figure as “the lowest in the nation,” ranking GW as the number two party school in the country. The Princeton Review report said the lack of time spent on academics reaffirms GW’s “reputation as a party school and (raises) the question of how demanding the coursework is.”

But Beil said GW’s ranking “(wasn’t because we) were partying. It’s because we’re working.”

GW’s study and The Princeton Review’s report both found GW students dedicate most of their time to extracurricular activities. But the GW report found these activities were mostly work-related commitments, not social functions.

After The Princeton Review announced its rankings, concern about the impact of extracurricular activities on students’ academic pursuits surfaced within the University community, Beil said.

But she said GW’s top 50-ranking in the U.S. News & World Report ratings refuted The Princeton Review’s findings.

All work and no play?Beil said the report raised concerns that opportunities to work in the city are detracting from the “intellectual atmosphere” of GW.

But junior Jason McKellar disagreed.

McKellar interns 15-20 hours a week at the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus, his second internship since he came to GW. Last year he interned for Republican Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.).

McKellar said individual students must strike the right balance to meet academic and extracurricular goals and still have fun.

“Students are probably learning more from their internships than, for instance, reading Thucydides. That’s not going to help you get a job,” McKellar said. “Being able to say, through work experience, that you have the skills (employers) need is going to help a student more.”

The University’s report also said jobs enhance students’ communication, decision-making, time management and teamwork skills.

But Beil said the report’s findings support some administrators’ concerns that the suit-and-tie subculture of internships and part-time jobs may take a toll on GW’s “intellectual life.”

“I think anyone who says that out-of-class experiences detracts from the intellectual life at GW is out of touch with the student body,” McKellar said.

“(Involvement) gives students a broader perspective and stimulates classroom discussion. Instead of taking away from the student’s intellectual life, it adds to it,” he said.

But Flick, who plans to continue her internship at the zoo again next year, said her academics have suffered at times because of her commitments at the zoo.

“This year I scheduled my classes around my internship . (but) next semester my priority is going to have to be schoolwork,” she said. “I’m gaining a lot of experience, but it definitely detracts from my studying time.

“I’m there at least 15 hours a week . I could definitely spend that time studying,” Flick said. “But it’s a valuable experience that’s worth it if I can still fit my studies in.”

Stressed outStaff members at the University Counseling Center say the stress level is high among GW students.

Finding paid employment was a major concern of GW students, many of whom help to financially support their educations. Twice as many students worked for pay as did non-paid work like internships or volunteer jobs, according to the report.

“As tuition increases, students need more ways to earn extra money,” Beil said.

But sophomore Jessica Schoen said she wanted the best of both worlds. So Schoen took a paid administrative assistant position with a financial consulting firm last week where she receives internship-caliber training and earns money for school.

“The internship experience was the most important part for me because I need experience before I go out into the working world. But I wouldn’t have had time to get a regular paying job to help pay for school too,” she said.

Beil said the next step in the administration’s assessment of students’ experiential activities will be to understand the financial necessities of working students.

The report noted that students involved in cooperative education programs, internships and voluntary service “appear to be more conscientious students who devote more time to extracurricular activities than those working (for pay) or those not involved in an out-of-class experience.”

According to the report, students involved in at least one activity in fall 1996 earned higher grades than those who did not have any outside commitments. It noted the possibility that students with higher grades are awarded more merit-based financial aid, thus demonstrating less need for paying jobs.

Those students were left with more time to participate in unpaid internships and voluntary service, the report said.