Dear Political Science Students.

One of our UMBC alums at Manis Canning & Associates is seeking an intern for the legislative session.  Stipend of $2,000, roughly 20 hours per week. 

This is a GREAT opportunity to get experience working with lobbyists during the MD General Assembly Session. 

TO APPLY, submit your resume and cover letter right away on UMBCworks, position 9319651.  If your resume is not approved in UMBCworks, simply upload it and let Christine Routzahn know to approve (routzahn@umbc.edu). 

Internship Opportunity early-January 2021 to mid-April 2021 During the Maryland General Assembly Session
Manis Canning & Associates
12 Francis St., Annapolis, MD 21401

Firm Overview
Manis Canning & Associates (MCA) is seeking a mature undergraduate student to serve as an intern to assist the firm’s lobbyists during the 2021 Maryland General Assembly Session. MCA is a bipartisan firm providing creative and proactive government affairs, public relations, business strategies and programs to a diverse group of clients. Its principals have more than 100 years of experience working with legislators, regulators and the executive branches of government at the local, state and federal levels. MCA has expertise in a broad range of policy areas such as sports entertainment, taxes, professional licensing, gaming, transportation, insurance, business regulation, information technology, environmental regulation, pharmaceuticals and healthcare. For information on the firm’s principals and clients visit MCA’s website, https://www.maniscanning.com/ .

Intern Qualifications
Applicant must be self-motivated; possess a level of maturity and interest necessary to complete assignments with little supervision; and possess good writing, communication, and computer skills.
- Knowledge of state issues and structure is a plus for this position. MCA’s office and the General Assembly buildings are located in downtown Annapolis.  Walking from MCA’s office to the General Assembly and government buildings will be required.
Schedule
- The internship begins in early-January just prior to the beginning of the General Assembly session through mid-April. The General Assembly session starts on January 13, 2021 and ends on Monday, April 12, 2021.
- A training day will be scheduled prior to the first day of the session.
- The intern will work at least 20 hours a week preferably on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as these are the days when committee hearings are held. Other schedules may be considered.

Responsibilities
•    Assist MCA lobbyists and staff with preparation and delivery of testimony and materials
•    Assist with signing up MCA lobbyists and other specified individuals to testify at bill hearings
•    Perform bill research as necessary, which may include retrieving relevant information from bill files in Senate and House Committees or the Legislative Services Library
•    Assist lobbyists with tracking legislation, by producing reports and tracking bill hearing dates, budget hearing dates, and other important meeting dates on calendars
•    Attend public bill hearings and budget hearings as needed taking notes of key relevant points mentioned during the hearings and sharing information with MCA lobbyists
•    Possibly assisting with posting General Assembly updates and news to the Manis Canning Newsletter
•    Other necessary duties as assigned

Compensation
A stipend comparable to that of the General Assembly internship program will be offered.

Hey Political Science Students,

The UMBC Center for Democracy and Civic Life will be holding a virtual election event called Election Night Extravaganza.  

Election Night Extravaganza is a UMBC tradition that brings members of our community together to watch and discuss election results in real time. Coming together at the end of an election has never been more important. This has been a divisive election season that has coincided with a pandemic, circumstances that can easily pull us apart. We are a community, and will continue to be a community after the election. 

Connect on Discord and WebEx with UMBC students, staff, faculty, and alumni to share space, offer reactions and insights, and learn more about Election 2020. RSVP required to receive an invitation to the various virtual spaces. Please use this link to RSVP. 

To celebrate in style, we are also offering a limited number of Cast Your Whole Vote-themed packages that include a t-shirt, stickers, a button, and a tote bag. To request your package, follow this link. 

The election packages have been made possible through contributions from the Center for Democracy and Civic Life, the Center for Social Science Scholarship, the Department of Political Science, the Graduate Student Association, the Resident Student Association, the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program, and the Student Government Association.

Election Extravaganza 2020 is coordinated by the Center for Democracy and Civic Life in partnership with the Student Government Association (SGA) and the Graduate Student Association (GSA), with support from student representatives from College Democrats, College Republicans, the Department of Political Science, the Center for Women in Technology (CWIT) Scholars Program, the Grand Challenges Scholars Program, the Honors College, the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, Moot Court, the Resident Student Association (RSA), the Shriver Center, the Sondheim Scholars Program, the Student Events Board (seb), and Women Involved in Learning & Leadership (WILL+).

For questions, please email civiclife@umbc.edu. 

Hey Political Science Students,

The Maryland Voter Registration Deadline is this Tuesday, October 13th. Please spread the word by reaching out to your networks. The Cast Your Whole Vote Toolkit has many awesome tools that you can use to help spread the word about the importance of voting. The Center for Democracy and Civic Life updated the Cast Your Whole Vote Campaign toolkit by adding a sample email and sample social media posts relating to the voter registration deadline. The Cast Your Whole Vote Toolkit Facebook profile cover photos, flyers, social media squares, social media stories, and twitter headers that are most relevant to voter registration are the ones that say Voting Starts Now and Voting Matters.

Please also continue to share the toolkit widely so others can promote the campaign as well.

Hey Political Science Students,

If you plan on graduating within the upcoming academic year, I want to make you aware of the Scoville Fellowship and application process. Please also be sure to check out the website and flyer attached to this post. 

Scoville Fellows are supervised by senior-level staff members at their host institutions and may work on a range of issues including nuclear and conventional arms control and nonproliferation, conflict prevention and peacebuilding, diplomacy, environmental security, and emerging technology threats. They contribute to their host organizations' goals through research, public education, advocacy, and by writing articles, blog posts, fact sheets, letters to the editor, op-eds, and/or reports. In addition, fellows often help organize talks and conferences and attend coalition meetings, policy briefings, and congressional hearings. Benefits of this fellowship include salary, basic health insurance compensation, mentoring, moving costs to DC, meetings with policy experts, a modest stipend for professional development purposes, and an entrée into an increasingly influential network of alumni working for domestic and international NGOs, the federal government, academia, and media.