The UK Department of Political Science conducts a Kentucky Legislative Internship Program (KLIP) every spring semester to align with the Commonwealth's legislative sessions.  This comprehensive legislative boot camp can serve as the culminating experience of a PS major's studies, or it can be a great launching point for students earlier in their academic careers who intend to continue their study of the political process or to go on to additional political work on the national level. 

What is it?  KLIP gives UK undergraduates a comprehensive experiential education related to legislative process, with a focus on Kentucky state politics, by combining extensive hands-on experience in the Kentucky assembly (assisting an individual legislator) with intensive academic exploration of the scholarly literature relevant to their internships (by enrolling simultaneously in relevant PS department courses).  The interns also periodically gather with the rest of their cohort in the program, sharing advice and experiences.  

Note that the Commonwealth’s legislature has both long (no more than 60 legislative days in even-numbered years) and short (no more than 30 legislative days in odd-numbered years) sessions that meet each spring.  The KLIP program varies in a manner consistent with these long/short sessions.

Student requirements and recommendations for the KLIP program include:

• Enroll in 3 credit hours (odd years) or 6 credit hours (even years) of PS 399 Internship.  Students must be able to work in Frankfort all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as on Wednesday afternoons.
• [Even years only] Enroll in a special seminar for interns (PS 492), worth 1 credit hour, taught either on campus or in Frankfort.
• [Even years only] Enroll in PS 476G Legislative Process, taught on campus MWF mornings and worth 3 credit hours (although students who have already taken the course still could be allowed to participate).  Note that we will make every effort to offer this course every even-numbered spring.  Students can still participate in the KLIP program if the course is not offered.
• [Optional/recommended] Enroll in PS 557 Kentucky Government and Politics or PS 458 State & Local Government, both taught on campus.

Students wishing for more than the required credits may sign up for additional course work as long as doing so does not conflict with the internship obligations.

Who can apply?  You must be a UK Political Science major or minor in good standing. You must have completed 9 hours of political science course work before the spring semester in which you wish to intern.  Entrance into the program is competitive, and selection of Legislative interns will be based on academic record, relevant experience, and perceived ability to perform as an intern.

When do you apply?  Students may apply beginning on August 15 prior to the spring in which they would like to intern.  The application is available here.  Review of applications begins on November 1, and interviews for KLIP internship positions will begin shortly thereafter.

The internship program for students wishing to work in Washington, DC, WilDCats at the Capitol, is a collaborative program between the UK President’s Office, Student Government, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Political Science department.  This program allows students to intern either for a full semester (fall or spring terms) or during the summer.

Watch the video below for a description of this opportunity:

For more information and to apply, visit the WilDCats at the Capitol page here.

We encourage students to seek out their own internship opportunities.  Each semester, many of our students earn internship credit by working with political campaigns, local government agencies, non-profits, and law offices.  These are enriching experiences, and we are delighted when our students earn credit towards their degree with this type of work.

Watch the video below for an example of the experiences our students find with these types of internships.

Simply working at a job, even a professionally enriching job, does not necessarily contribute to a liberal-arts education.  On-site supervisors can teach the skills needed to carry out necessary tasks, but there’s no guarantee that supervisors will encourage interns to look beyond the job at hand and contemplate how it fits within the student's overall academic curriculum. 

Our internship course, PS 399 (sample syllabus here), provides students with an opportunity to embed early work experiences within the liberal-arts education they are pursuing.  To earn credit, students not only must serve in a job with some connection to Political Science, they also must read a modest amount of social-science scholarship related to the internship.  They communicate regularly with the Internship Director or another Faculty Sponsor within the Political Science department – sometimes to seek advice or guidance, sometimes just to share their progress, but always with the expectation that they will show they are thinking abstractly or scientifically about the job and its techniques.  And at the end, they write a reflective paper connecting their job(s) to the scholarly readings.  Thus, in addition to (1) exhibiting the skills learned on the job and (2) documenting that they have gained abstract knowledge about the topical area in which they are working, the course has a third beneficial outcome, which is that students (3) show that, as professionals, they can perform a job successfully yet still think critically about the work they are performing.

Step 1: Finding the Internship.  The Political Science Department typically lacks the resources to find internships for undergraduates (aside from the research internships that students sometimes coordinate with our own faculty, as explained below).  Students who wish to enroll in PS 399 first must line up work that will qualify under the program.  Discretion ultimately rests with the Internship Director, but in general the student’s employment must include substantial exposure to political, governmental, or legal institutions, and much of the work must involve some level of learning or individual discretion (rather than, for example, simply photocopying, stapling and/or delivering documents).  Students receiving internship credit usually take paid or unpaid employment with one of the following:

1. government agencies (whether local, state, or federal, including legislative staff)
2. political parties or campaign organizations
3. interest groups or other policy-related organizations (e.g., non-profit research)
4. judicial institutions (whether local, state, or federal)
5. law firms and other legal organizations (e.g. county attorney’s office)
6. the news media if primarily writing on government or politics

If you’re unsure of where to start your internship search, visit handshake to search internships available for University of Kentucky students.  Students may also contact the Internship Director at psintern@uky.edu for advice on finding an internship.

Step 2: Contact the Internship Director.  Prior to formal approval of the internship (step 3 below), students should contact the Internship Director at psintern@uky.edu to provide initial information about the potential internship.  Students should answer the following questions in their email:

1. What are the start and end dates of your internship?
2. What is the name of the organization you will be interning for?
3. What will your duties be in your internship and, briefly, describe how the work will connect to the Political Science major?
4. How many hours a week will you average at your internship?
5. How many hours total will you work during the semester?
6. What is the name and contact for your supervisor?

The Internship Director will respond promptly with advice and support about how to best move forward.  Students should not proceed to Step 3 until they have heard back from the Internship Director.

Step 3: Securing Formal Support of the Internship Director (step 3a) and the Internship Supervisor (step 3b)

Step 3a: Formal Support from the Internship Director[1].  The Internship Director is in charge of the academic side of the internship.  To secure formal support for the internship, students must complete and submit a Learning Contract Form (here).  This contract lays out the academic requirements for PS 399 coordinated between the student and the Internship Director.  These requirements will typically include (1) ongoing communication, (2) required readings, and (3) a final paper.  See the sample syllabus (here) for a more thorough explanation of these requirements.

Step 3b: Formal Support from the Internship Supervisor.  While the Internship Director is in charge of the academic side of the internship (as explained in Step 3a above), the Internship Supervisor is the person in charge of the job duties that the intern performs at the internship.  This person will usually be someone who is in charge of the office where you will intern, such as the office manager.  In addition to the Learning Contract coordinated with the Internship Director above, students must also complete a Memorandum of Agreement (here) with the Internship Supervisor. 

Once students have completed Learning Contract (Step 3a) and Memorandum of Agreement (Step 3b), they should submit them to the Internship Director.  Submissions will be made via Canvas no later than within the first two weeks that classes start.

Step 4: Signing Up for the Course.  Students may earn up to six (6) credit hours in PS 399 during a given semester, for a total of no more than 12 credit hours of the 120 required to graduate.[2]  The number of possible credits in a given semester depends on how many hours the student will be working at the internship, as well as on the scope of the academic work the student is willing to perform.  See the sample syllabus (here) for a table that provides guidance on how many credits students should expect for their internship.

Once the Internship Director has approved the student’s proposal, s/he will provide an override that allows the student to enroll in PS399.

Step 5: Exit Evaluation.  Internship Supervisors will be asked to provide an evaluation for each student at the end of the term, and students cannot pass the course without either (a) achieving a favorable evaluation or (b) receiving an official waiver from the Internship Director.  It is the student’s responsibility to provide the Internship Supervisor with the Exit Evaluation Form (here).  As noted in the form, the Internship Supervisor may return the form directly to the Internship Director or give it to the student for submission.

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Students interested in performing research with faculty are encouraged to do so, and we commonly have many students each semester enrolled in PS399 to perform research with faculty.  These opportunities usually begin with students contacting faculty to see if they can support their research.  Faculty also sometimes reach out to students with research opportunities.

View the video below if you’re interested in how undergraduate research internships support students.

If faculty agree to research internships, they have the discretion to proceed how they wish in terms of paperwork and agreements, provided that the Internship Director approve of the plan.  Faculty frequently use the PS399 syllabus template (here), require a Learning Contract (here), and align work with PS399 Path 3 (see above).  Faculty may also devise their own syllabi and modify the Learning Contract to suit the agreement coordinated with the student.  Faculty willing to supervise a research internship should communicate with the Internship Director to assure that student experiences align with department goals and university rules.

Once the faculty sponsor, student, and the Internship Director have a mutually-agreeable plan, the Internship Director will instruct the student on how to enroll to earn PS399 credit for their research experience.

Internships can be costly.  Students often have to break leases, forgo income from paid jobs they would be doing otherwise, and take on additional costs for transportation, moving and living.  However, students should never assume that they cannot afford to be an intern.  The Political Science department is firmly committed to supporting students as much as possible to assure that our internship opportunities are available to all students.  There are several routes to secure financial support for your internship.

• Scholarships provided by the College of Arts and Sciences (here).  Note that the Robert and Anne Trunzo Scholarship in Political Science and Pre-Law (here) is a common source of funding for PS interns.
• Funds provided by the Student Government Association (here; also see Wildcat Wardrobe here)
• Funds provided by the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards (here).
• Scholarships provided by the University (here).
• Funds provided by the Political Science department (see the “Support for Internships and Financial Need” tab here).