Senate Fellowship Program for Graduate Students, USA

Description:
Established in 1973, the California Senate Fellows (CSF) program is one of the oldest and most distinguished service learning programs in the country. The CSF program grew out of a desire to provide people with insight into the legislative process through experiential learning. It offers college graduates a paid, full-time legislative staff position in the State Capitol for 11 months. The fellowship program's primary goals include exposing people with diverse life experiences and backgrounds to the legislative process by providing research and other professional staff assistance to the Senate. The CSF program is jointly sponsored by the California State Senate and the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento.  

Graduate Students 

Senate Fellows receive fully-paid enrollment at California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State), and earn graduate units for seminars taught by faculty from Sacramento State’s Government Department. The graduate seminars are a required segment of the fellowship program.

Office Placements

Eighteen 2012-2013 California Senate Fellows will be selected to serve as full-time Senate staff for 11 months beginning in October 2012. Fellows are assigned to Member or policy committee offices and work as part of the public policy staff team in the Capitol. Responsibilities include helping develop legislative proposals, researching and analyzing bills, responding to constituent inquiries, and writing press releases and speeches.  Many of the CSF participants continue their post-fellowship careers as on-going staff to the California Senate.

Qualifications and Application Requirements

The only program prerequisite is a bachelor's degree and there is no preferred major since the work of the policy arena is multi-disciplinary. Individuals with advanced degrees and those in mid-career are encouraged to apply. Although no previous political or legislative experience is necessary, applicants should have a strong interest in public policy and politics. A five-week orientation provides background on state government, the legislative process, and major policy issues.

Fellows receive a monthly stipend of $1972 plus full health, vision and dental benefits. They also earn 6 units of graduate credit from the Sacramento State Government Department.

Selection Process

Applications are reviewed by a selection panel of seven Senate staff, the CSF program director, and the CSF faculty advisor.  Applicants are notified in April of their selection for a personal interview. Interviews take place in late April/early May in Sacramento and Los Angeles. The selection committee selects fellows and alternates after interviews.  Written notifications are mailed in May. The deliberations of the selection committee are confidential and final. All applications become property of the program. The program begins in October 2012.

The application deadline for 2012-13 is February 22, 2012. Please check website for application details available Fall 2011.
Website: http://www.csus.edu