Undergraduate Programs - Summer Policy Internship for Rising Seniors
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

The summer policy internship program, initiated in 1998 under the direction of Edith Manns, is a seven-week learning experience for undergraduate students entering their senior year. Areas of study include environmental health, economics, state and local governance, public financial management, education and education reform, health care, and other topics vital to a functioning society. Policy interns dive into research projects under the guidance of faculty mentors and participate in weekly seminars to hear from the policy center directors, present their own summer work, and explore graduate study opportunities. All students receive a stipend for the summer, and some elect to get academic credit as well.

This year 14 rising seniors from institutions across the United States and foreign countries were selected to be summer policy interns. The students arrived in Atlanta in June and were paired with mentors in AYSPS Policy Centers to explore a policy area and work on specific research projects during the seven week summer session.

Student interns met twice weekly to discuss their research projects in the broader context of research at the Andrew Young School. Three research center directors (Gary Henry of the Applied Research Center, Jim Ledbetter of the Health Policy Center, and Dave Sjoquist of the Fiscal Research Program) each presented some of the work being done in their centers and addressed the topic of what it meant to do public policy research. Two panels of graduate students and junior faculty discussed their ideas on how undergraduates should prepare themselves for graduate school and research-oriented careers. One of the high points of the seminar was a trip to the Experimental Economics Laboratory, where the interns not only learned theoretical importance of experimental research methods, but each earned at least $20 for their participation (experiment demonstration performed by Susan Laury). Seminar leader Greg Lewis presented several hands-on demonstrations of the SPSS and SAS statistics packages, and Avani Raval demonstrated advanced PowerPoint techniques. In the final week, interns made their own PowerPoint presentations on the research they accomplished during their internships.

A highlight of the summer's activities was a roundtable discussion with The Honorable Andrew Young. The interns and their mentors also enjoyed a pool party at the Dean's house, and a day rafting down the Chattahoochee River.