If all goes according to plan, students hoping to get away for a semester next year will have one more place they can earn credit and gain experience. This one will be a little closer to home, though.

The semester in Detroit project, a program that will allow students to live and work in the Motor City, is in its final planning stages for a pilot run during the 2009 winter semester.

Student participants will live on the Wayne State University campus while interning with community-based organizations and small businesses in the area.

University alum Rachel Tanner, who spearheaded the program, said, "the idea is that students would be making significant contributions to something businesses are doing."

Students will work on specific, small group projects that aim to benefit the community, she said.

Although the semester in Detroit project is based in the Residential College and the Edward Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning, it is open to students in any concentration. A student's schedule will likely include the internship, a seminar in conjunction with the internship, a core course and electives that are yet to be determined.

LSA sophomore Jennifer Cowhy, one of the project's planners, said students are asked to list their interests on the application so that they can help sculpt the project and do the work they want to do.

Cowhy said that with other Detroit-based programs at the University, "students are given the opportunity to work with people and gain experience and knowledge, but they are never truly part of the community."

LSA senior Will Ness, another one of the project's planners, said there is a feeling of disconnect between Detroit and Ann Arbor. This program, he said, will offer students the ability to connect with the city of Detroit.

"Opportunities at this point for Ann Arbor students to be involved in Detroit are limited to a few hours a week or a few days a year," Ness said. "When you're doing it for a class or for credit, it doesn't feel like you're integrating yourself in the community. To me, the primary importance and goal of the program is to generate a sense of community between U of M and communities in Detroit."