About
Why “Ethos”, why “Commons”
Ethos is the Greek word for character. Aristotle called it the kind of persuasion that rests on the credibility of the person speaking. Not the argument, not the emotion. The person. That is the bet this whole thing makes: a real student, confirmed by others who were there independently, is worth listening to.
It also stands for Ethical Hosting, the thing we are trying to make visible. The mark is a door: the one students did not have.
A commons is something a community keeps together and nobody owns alone. A well, a library, a shared pasture. Everyone who uses it helps keep it honest. Ethos is a commons for placements: open numbers, published rules, and a council of member universities that oversees how it is run.
The rules
Written down so people can argue with them. Every change is recorded in the changelog.
- 1
A company appears when a verified student has reviewed it, not when anyone posts.
A page appears from the first verified review. Before that, nothing is shown. Not the name, not a count. The page always says how many reviews it rests on and how many different universities they come from, so readers can judge the weight of what they read.
- 2
Everyone who reviews was really there.
Your placement office confirms it from their own records, or a moderator reads your placement agreement and then deletes it. One review per person per company. Anything from the last 3 years counts.
- 3
Your name is never shown.
A comment shows a role and a period, not a name. You can leave those out too. A company page never records who placed you. What you say about the programme that placed you goes to your university only.
- 4
Your scores count at once. Your words are read once first.
Numbers cannot identify anyone, so they go live as soon as you are verified. One moderator reads your comment and asks two things: is it about the work, and could you have seen it? Then it is shown or not. Nobody edits it.
- 5
Serious things go to a person, not a page.
Harassment, exploitation, discrimination, feeling unsafe: this goes privately to your university's placement office. They tell the company that a concern exists, with the category and the period but never who raised it. The company has 14 days to respond before anything counts publicly. The page only ever shows a number.
- 6
Where the law is harsh, the page shows numbers only.
In some countries, saying something online about a named company can be a criminal matter. There, the public page shows scores and no comments. Students still write. Placement offices still read.
- 7
The AI has one job.
It reads a weekly check-in note and decides whether a person needs to be involved. It never advises, never replies, never counsels. We use AI to decide when not to use AI.
Who runs it
Ethos is a pilot, started by Asia Internship Program, a member of The Forum on Education Abroad, together with the universities that join it.
Ethos Commons is owned and operated by Asia Internship Program. A council of member universities oversees its work, to keep it transparent and in line with good practice. The rules are published, and every change is recorded in the changelog. The aggregate numbers are open. Providers have no role in the review layer, and there is nothing for them to buy.
Ethos is free. For students, for companies, for universities. There is no paid tier and nothing to buy. Asia Internship Program runs it as a contribution to the sector it works in.
Built to the Standards
Every part of Ethos is mapped to the Forum on Education Abroad's Standards of Good Practice, including where it only partly meets them. See the map.
Contact
Membership, questions, corrections: daniele@internsinasia.com
ethoscommons.com · github.com/Talos91/ethos