A Roadmap for Establishing a Successful Internship Program in State Capitals and Beyond

Abstract

Public service internships are an established pedagogical tool in political science. Decades of scholarship on teaching and learning highlight how hands-on practicums can enhance students’ substantive learning, professional development, civic values, and multicultural tolerance. Despite the proliferation of research on the student benefits of internships, faculty have received much less information on structuring and administering a successful internship program. We profile a public service internship program we have coordinated for over a decade on behalf of a public university in a state capital. We provide a roadmap for others looking to inaugurate or fortify their internship offerings in their state capital or local epicenter of government. We share our program’s goals, student composition, academic curricula, sample syllabi and assignments, and other pragmatic considerations. Alumni survey results underscore how the program fosters innumerable expressive and instrumental benefits to students’ civic values and professional preparation. By sharing this template, we aim to facilitate the implementation of impactful internship programs in state capitals and beyond, promoting experiential learning and place-based pedagogy in political science education.

Keywords:

• experiential learning
• internships
• public service
• state capitals
• internship programs

Acknowledgments

We thank the anonymous reviewers and editors for their helpful comments. Any remaining errors are ours alone.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Notes

1 We use the terms “internship,” “practicum,” “praxis, and “fieldwork” interchangeably.

2 See the Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures ruling, which established a subjective balancing of these factors to classify a position as an internship or employment.

3 Majors are required to complete a minimum of 33 credits in political science and three credits of experiential learning.

4 For comparison, half of our majors identify as women and 30% identify as BIPOC.

5 Empowering students to choose their internships reduces institutional liability, yet Title IX and policies on relationship violence and sexual misconduct still apply off-campus for all university-related activities.

6 Although internships in Congressional district offices are federal praxes, they remain relevant to the Program’s aims around state and local government given the role of federalism in the U.S. system.

7 Excluding scholarships, the Program’s budget today is $4000, covering promotional materials, faculty expenses, and an end-of-semester reception for 75-100 participants to celebrate the students’ achievements and encourage further donations. The Department and the university’s fund-development office cover the event’s costs.

8 The coursework in the Program’s three courses combines synchronous and asynchronous elements. Throughout the 14-credit program, students convene in or near the State Capitol twice a week for a total of three hours. Enrollment in these courses is exclusive to students accepted into the Program. With the Program’s flexible schedule, many students can enroll in an additional course on campus. Sample syllabi for these three courses are available in the Online Appendix.

9 View examples of these assignments in the Online Appendix.

10 All Program alums without FERPA directory restrictions received an email prompt in fall 2023 to participate in the online survey. A follow-up reminder was sent a week after the initial invitation. Alumni contact information are maintained by the university and Program faculty. The Institutional Review Board approval is STUDY00008552.

11 The Appendix contains the survey script.

12 Where appropriate (Questions 2, 4, and 5), we reverse-coded the responses. The reverse-coded results are displayed in Figure 2.

13 The remaining 6% of graduates seek employment or are in a career transition.

14 This statistic appears low for our BIPOC respondents, but 30% are currently enrolled in graduate or law school.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marty P. Jordan

Marty P. Jordan is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Michigan State University. He currently coordinates MSU’s Michigan Government Semester Program. His research has appeared in the Journal of Political Science Education, Poverty & Public Policy, and State Politics & Policy Quarterly, among other outlets.

Charles S. Matzke

Charles S. Matzke is an assistant professor emeritus in the Department of Political Science at Michigan State University. He is the founder of MSU’s Michigan Government Semester Program. He retired from MSU in 2020.