Congratulations to the Spring 2017 Council!

President: Zuhair Riaz

Vice President: Summer Akhtar

Treasurer: Justin Conner

Secretary: Curtis Meggit

Students interested in becoming involved with the COM can contact Zuhair at riaz1@umbc.edu

Tuesday, February 28 at 6:30p, Public Policy Building room 441

Learn about the UMBC Master’s in Public Policy (MPP), combined BA/MPP degree, and PhD program

Dinner is included!

To register and for directions/ parking information please send your name, year, and major to Sally Helms (helms@umbc.edu)
Find out more about the School of Public Policy at publicpolicy.umbc.edu

Program focuses on the preparation of undergraduate students who qualify as either low-income/first-generation college students or members of groups underrepresented in graduate education to pursue doctoral degrees.

 Offers a number of benefits, such as: summer and academic year research funding, assistance connecting with faculty research mentors, hands-on guidance and navigation through the graduate school application process, first-hand exposure to individuals who have earned PhD’s in their field of study, and the opportunity to attend research conferences (fully funded).

Link to program’s web page can be found at http://mcnair.umbc.edu/ where all pertinent information can be found. All inquiries from interested students can be sent to me at marks2@umbc.edu.

 Interested? Apply as soon as possible! Deadline is Friday, March 10^th.

The UMBC Police have received several recent reports of student being victimized through a job scam.  Attached to this email are several tips on how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of this scam.  The scams involve what appears to be a UMBC email address but the email is spoofed to appear to come from UMBC. 

Paul Dillon, Deputy Chief of Police

410-707-6012 (Cell) / 410-455-3733 (Office)

e2campus Alert – Receive campus emergency information on your text enabled device. 

Subscribe at www.my.umbc.edu and click on the “Alerts” button at the top of the page or at

www.umbc.edu/police and click on the Emergency Notification “Log in” button

As part of an ongoing research project (Lancaster, 2014, 2015), this talk emphasizes the concept of political monitoring in the study of governing institutions.  Building on the psychological notion that people change their behavior if someone is watching them or they think someone is, the argument will be advanced that the choice of how political monitoring is institutionalized, as a necessary element in the process of overcoming collective action problems in the provision of public goods, reflects choices in state-building, institutional engineering, and public policy.  A wide range of examples will illustrate how constitutionally-based structures, operational rules, and policy design might incorporate political monitoring in order to produce specific outcomes normatively held as desirable.  

 Event will be held on Monday, Feb 13th from 12-2p

In the Library and Gallery, Albin O. Kuhn : 7th Floor

Co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science, Global Studies, and Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars

 Updated January 18 with more positions and some more detail on existing ads. . .

Several state delegates and senators have recently contacted me to advertise internships for this current legislative session, which runs until mid-April. Most offices need the intern to start immediately and to work for 2 days per week. Typical state legislative intern duties include substantial legislative research work, constituent correspondence, some clerical work, and attendance at various meetings, events, and legislative proceedings with or on behalf of the legislator. UMBC students have consistently reported positive experiences with this program, and for several of them, the experience later led to a legislative staff job.

Most of the legislators who have contacted me pay their interns a modest stipend, which is set this session at $850 for 16 hours per week and $1250 for 24 hours per week. Free parking is also included.

Interns receiving the stipend are considered participants in the Maryland General Assembly’s official internship program and thus are required to be sponsored by a professor and to receive academic credit for the experience – although, as noted below, some legislators hire outside this program and may still pay. The Department of Political Science offers qualifying students 7 graded credits for a combination of the internship and required supplemental academic work. These come from POLI 448, a writing-intensive hybrid class required of all interns, and POLI 401. On those weeks when POLI 448 meets face-to-face, alternative arrangements are available for students whose internship schedules conflict with class time. Traditionally, eligibility has been limited to juniors and seniors with GPAs of 3.0 and higher, but exceptions for high-GPA sophomores or for upperclassmen with GPAs below 3.0 may be considered on a case-by-case basis.

As of Wednesday, January 18, the following legislators have contacted me about internships in their Annapolis offices. Party affiliation and county are provided for your information, but interns are not necessarily required to share these with the legislator. If you are interested, please send your resume to the contact person while contacting me to apply for academic credit. ~Dr. Hussey (lhussey@umbc.edu)

·         Del. Vanessa Atterbeary (D – Howard County) (see details in earlier post)

·         Del. Ric Metzgar (R – Baltimore County) (Contact: Diamond J. Aranda, Chief of Staff, 410-841-3332)

·         Del. Edith Patterson (D – Charles County) (Tu/Th availability needed. Contact: Melinda M. Hamilton, Chief of Staff, Edith.Patterson@house.state.md.us or 410-841-3247.)

·         Del. Marc Korman (D – Montgomery County) (MWF availability preferred, but TuTh OK. Contact: Sean Emerson, Legislative Aide, Marc.Korman@house.state.md.us or 410-841-3649)

·         Sen. Victor Ramirez (D – Prince George’s County) (Spanish speakers especially desired. Needs TuWeTh availability. May still hire and pay stipend even if not meeting 3.0 GPA or requirement for professor sponsorship and academic credit. Contact: Wanika Fisher, Esq., Policy and Constituent Director, WFisher@senate.state.md.us or 410-841-3745)

·         Del. Karen Lewis Young (D – Frederick County) (Contact: Manley Paul Calhoun III, Legislative Director, Karen.Young@house.state.md.us or 410-841-3436)

·         Speaker Pro Tem Del. Adrienne Jones (D – Baltimore County). (Position is unpaid, but promises extensive exposure to the delegate’s meetings and legislative work. Does not involve clerical work. Contact Dr. Hussey for details.)

·         Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D – Prince George’s County) (TuTh availability preferred, W okay. Contact: Keontae Wells, Executive Assistant: KKells@senate.state.md.us)

·         Delegate-elect (just appointed to fill a vacancy) Jheanelle Wilkins (D – Montgomery County) (Send email of interest and resume to Dr. Hussey to forward directly to Del.-Elect Wilkins)

Delegate Vanessa E. Atterbeary who represents the 13th legislative district which
    includes Columbia, Clarksville, Dayton, Fulton, North Laurel, River Hill, and
    Savage, is looking for interns for the 2017 Legislative Session. Our relatively
    small staff requires team members that are willing to do administrative work while
    taking on more critical responsibilities to support daily operations. To apply, send
    your resume to Michelle García, Chief of Staff, at
    vanessa.atterbeary@house.state.md.us<mailto:vanessa.atterbeary@house.state.md.us>.
    
    Responsibilities may include but are not limited to:
    
    - Administrative duties (phones, emails, scheduling, etc.)
    - Attend committee hearings
    - Legislative research
    - Draft official communications
    - Providing support to delegation staff
    
    Requirements:
    
    - Available January through April at a minimum of 16 hours per week
    - Currently enrolled in a college or university
    - Must possess strong command of English language (bilingual applicants encouraged)
    - Proficient writing ability
    - Excellent communication skills
    - Ability to work and function in a creative and flexible environment
    - Reliable transportation