Public Policy
"UCCS offers something
for everyone regardless of major and future career goals. It gives students
the opportun-
ity to learn about, and to take part in, the shaping of California's
public policy."
UCCS students enroll in academic and internship classes while working 24-40 hours per week in internship placements in the State's capitol.
Contact the UCCS Academic Program Office with any questions, or for more information.
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Program Information
Past Syllabuses
Application FORM
Journalism Program
Program Basics
Academic Calendar
Internship Sites
Reasons to Attend UCCS
What Students Say About UCCS
Roll Up Your Sleeves and Take Your Seat at the Center of California Politics
Develop a systematic understanding of public policy and political processes in California. Class readings and discussions focus on California's public policy challenges in the face of growth, inequality, and globalization.
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Work as an intern doing meaningful policy work in a lawmaker's office, state department, or for another Capitol community member.
Learn about state policy and politics in small group discussions with state newsmakers.
Choose a policy topic and write a policy analysis.
About the academic programs...
Students with all interests are encouraged to apply for ANY UC program term. While the academic focus shifts from term to term, the program is designed to benefit students with any policy interests during every term. Students have the opportunity to tailor their internships and policy papers towards their individual personal academic and career goals regardless of the academic focus in a given term.
Spring Quarter 2009: California’s Global Challenges: Subprime Crisis, Global Warming, Water, and Infrastructure
Faculty:
Gary Dymski, Director and Professor, UC Center Sacramento
Victoria Basolo, Associate Professor of Planning, Policy, and Design, UC Irvine,
and Director of Public Engagement Initiatives, UCCS
Art Amos, Instructor, UCCS
This course is offered by UCCS Faculty Fellow Victoria Basolo and by UCCS Director Gary Dymski. It will provide training in California politics and policy analysis, and then will focus, in both private discussions and public sessions, on four of the central challenges now facing California and the globe: the subprime housing crisis, global warming, water, and infrastructure.
Click here for exact program dates.
Click here for the syllabus for the Spring Quarter 2009 Public Policy Seminar.
Summer 2009 – California Public Policy Challenges in the 21st Century: Health, Education, Environment
Faculty:
Gary Dymski, Executive Director, UC Center Sacramento and Professor, UC Riverside Department of Economics
Art Amos, Instructor, UCCS
The Summer 2009 UCCS Public Policy Seminar promises to be one of the most exciting and relevant courses offered to date. In addition to receiving training in policy analysis and on the contemporary California political economy, students will participate in one or more of three concurrent workshop series. Each series will comprise a combination of lectures, panel discussions, and debates , and each will focus on a different aspect of California public policy – education, health, or the environment. These workshops , organized by recognized experts in each of these fields , will give Scholar Interns a solid understanding of the history and future of the most vexing issues facing Californians today.
Follow this link to see a tentative schedule for these workshops.
Click here for exact program dates.
Fall Semester and Quarter 2009: Law, Politics, and Public Policy in California: Current Controversies
Faculty:
Gary Dymski, Director and Professor, UC Center Sacramento
Art Amos, Instructor, UCCS
This course provides training in California politics and policy analysis, and examines the intersection of law and politics in the Golden State. The course exposes students to readings, writing assignments, and classroom exercises that provide a systematic understanding of what a policy analysis is and is not, and how to write one. Students in the class develop their own analysis on a topic of their choosing; that analysis is critiqued, edited, discussed, extended, and presented. This training emphasizes the use of legal research materials. The course then examines the legal and policy responses that California’s democratic representation and political structures have generated in response to some of the Golden State’s most critical issues, including immigration; the correctional crisis; policies ensuring environmental sustainability.
Click here for exact program dates.
Sample Internship Placements
Placements are tailored to student's interest, skills and background. See more placements.
Office of Governor Schwarzenegger: Constituent Affairs, Appointments, Communications, Press, Office of the First Lady, Advance Team.
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Senators and Assembly Members: Khuel, Romero, Torlakson, Simitian, Morrow, Cox, Migden, Ortiz, Alpert, Dunn, Kuehl, Bermudez, Strickland, Runner, Coto.
Assembly Committees: Education, Governmental Organization, Judiciary, Public Safety, Joint Legislative Audit.
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State Offices: Dept. of Education, Dept. of Corrections & Rehabilitation, Public Defender's Office, CA Commission on the Status of Women, Dept. of Food and Agriculture, Air Resources Board, California Commission on the Status of Women.
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Local Government, Non-Profit Groups, and Special Interest Groups : Planning and Conservation League, Campaigns, CA Democrats, Common Cause, Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, California Medical Association Foundation, Planned Parenthood Legislative Office