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December 8, 2003
For More Information, Contact:
Lark Park at (916) 651-4011
SACRAMENTO - Assemblymember Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) announced that applications are currently being accepted for three State government fellowship programs. The application deadline for all three programs is February 25, 2004. The programs are the Jesse Marvin Unruh Assembly Fellowship Program, the California Senate Fellows Program, and the Executive Fellowship Program.
“I encourage any college graduate, whether recently graduated or mid-career, who has a strong interest in public policy and politics to apply,” said Simitian. “These programs are excellent opportunities for college graduates of any age, interested in state government, to gain firsthand knowledge of the inner workings of all its branches.”
The fellowship program is sponsored jointly by the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento, and the California State Government. While each program offers a different set of experiences, they all consist of graduate student coursework, substantial work experience and a monthly stipend plus benefits.
The Jesse Marvin Unruh Fellowship Program, founded in 1957 by legendary former Assembly Speaker Jesse Unruh and renamed in his honor in 1987, is the oldest and one of the most prestigious legislative fellowship programs in the nation. The Jesse Unruh Assembly Fellowship program along with the Senate and Executive programs select 18 college graduates for each of the three programs from an extraordinarily talented international applicant pool.
Fellows spend 11 months gaining firsthand knowledge of the California Legislative and/or Executive branch by joining the staff of legislative committees, working as staff to Senators and Assemblymembers in Sacramento, or working as a part of the professional staff team in the Governor’s Cabinet or other constitutional offices. Responsibilities may include developing and researching legislative proposals, implementing and monitoring statewide programs, responding to constituent concerns, analyzing bills, writing speeches and press releases, and coordinating visits of foreign dignitaries.
As part of the program, fellows also enroll at California State University, Sacramento, for 12 units of graduate course work and produce major research papers, a number of which are published.
“The program provides a wide range of experiences, and a first-hand understanding of how California government really works,” explains Preston Taylor, a staff member in Simitian’s office who first joined Simitian as an Assembly Fellow. “Its prestige gives you access to people in the Capitol that a normal first-year staffer would envy,” Taylor noted. “The support structure extends beyond your own class of Fellows to a network of Fellowship alumni who include current Assemblymembers, the Chief Clerk of the Assembly, and numerous senior level staff in both the legislative and executive branches of State Government.”
Applications and information are available on the Center for California Studies’ web site at http://www.csus.edu/calst/Programs/programs.html, or contact Simitian’s office at (650) 688-6384 for more information.