Students interested in local and state public policy will now
have the opportunity to live and learn in Sacramento.
The University of California Center in Sacramento, an
experimental education program allowing students to intern at the
capitol, will open in winter 2004.
“If students want to learn about state and local politics,
they can do that in the Sacramento program … It is really focused
on politics at the state rather than the federal level,” said
Erika Peters, the center’s internship director.
The program offers students a unique opportunity to participate
in state politics, said Gary Dymski, an economics professor at UC
Riverside and director of the center.
“We are in an era when a lot of policy is being made at
the state level, rather than the federal level. It’s
important for us at the university to engage in the state level to
help shape the state,” he said.
Julius Zelmanowitz, vice provost of the University of California
Office of Academic Initiatives, said students participating in the
UCCS program will be able to witness pertinent policy in the
making.
“The uniqueness is the proximity. Decisions made in
Sacramento often have more effect on your life and my life than
decisions made in Washington,” he said. “The decision
may be one that students can see the effects of … more quickly
than decisions made in Washington, (D.C.).”
The success of the UC’s Washington, D.C. internship
program, where students spend a term living and working in the
nation’s capital, was one reason the UC decided to establish
a similar program at the state capital, said Abby Lunardini, a
spokeswoman for the Office of Academic Initiatives.
Students in the program will have the opportunity to intern in
the offices of state senators, assemblymen and women, non-profit
organizations, legislative committees, lobbying groups and other
industry-related positions.
The program focuses on matching students with internships
relating to their interests.
“Let’s think of Sacramento as a whole, as a kind of
site where students at various locations experiment with and have a
chance to sample issues from different perspectives … My thought
is that students should be able to pick from that entire range of
possibilities,” Dymski said.
Students participating in the program are required to take a
seminar research course and have the option of enrolling in an
elective course.
The winter 2004 elective course will focus on California’s
economic and political situation.
The Sacramento seminar course requires students to research a
policy issue that interests them and relates to their
internship.
“My goal is that students will leave with a polished piece
of policy research which will show them how it’s done … The
guidance will be very individualized,” Dymski said.
Unit credit for the academic courses and the internship varies
between campuses, but ranges from 12 to 16 units. Students can
apply to the program through their respective campuses.
The UCCS is a pilot program that will undergo review after three
years to determine if it will become permanent. Students who attend
during this experimental stage will have an opportunity to help
develop the program.
“The students will come as participants to help me shape
our thinking about how we can have the best program we can
have,” Dymski said.
Students interested in applying to the Sacramento program
can log on to http://uccs.universityofcalifornia.edu.