Public Administration and Public Policy, B.S. - Political Science

Our department also offers a major in public administration leading to the Bachelor of Science degree. This program is designed to provide appropriate analytical skills and prepare students for direct entry into public service or for specialized graduate programs in public administration and public policy.

Students in public administration and public policy take courses including Public Administration Financial Analysis, American Public Policy, Public Budgeting, and Public Sector Human Resource Management.

Students can also take advantage of a number of extra-curricular activities (link to opportunities page) that can only further enhance the skills one will develop as a political science major.

P4950
Public Administration and Public Policy Internship Course

An internship will consist of meaningful work experience in the public administration field. Each internship will be different, but they will all have one element in common: an opportunity for students to gain significant experience that will enhance their academic background and better prepare them to enter the profession of public administration. Students also contribute significantly to area organizations through an internship.

An internship is not the same thing as a job. An internship is designated by the agency as an internship, and is for a limited time period. The agency understands that it has an obligation to expose the intern to as much about life in that agency as possible. Expectations of employees and expectations of interns are legitimately quite different. Paid internships are allowed, but they are very hard to come by.

You must complete 160 hours of work at your internship for this course. During your internship you will submit monthly reports, be evaluated by your internship site supervisor, and prepare a final paper.

Enrolling in the Internship Course

The student is responsible for identifying a suitable internship. An internship will provide significant experience with and exposure to the internal administrative and policy operations of an agency. It is important that an internship provides significant professional experience. Also, a significant portion of the final paper will consist of relating internship experiences to the discipline of public administration.

Please begin your search for an internship site well in advance of the semester you wish to enroll. There is paperwork that must be completed before you will be allowed to enroll.

Once you have arranged an internship, you must submit the following to the current Internship Director before enrolling in the internship course:

Internship Site Form: This form identifies the internship and provides contact information for your supervisor.
Current copy of your resume
Internship Agreement Form

After receiving the Internship Site Form and your resume, the current Internship Director will contact your supervisor directly and provide him or her with the Internship Agreement Form. Your supervisor will define your responsibilities as an intern on the Internship Agreement Form. You and your supervisor will then sign this form, indicating that you understand and accept the Agreement.

Internship Syllabus - Please review this syllabus carefully and contact the internship director if you have any questions.