Capital Intern Program Information and Requirements

Internship Reflections

Since its founding, the Capital Intern Program has assisted over 1,000 students in their internship. Jessica Brockop's experience shadowing state leaders has spearheaded her career focus.

Requirements for Interns–Before Your Internship

• A minimum grade point average of 3.0 is required and 15 or more hours of political science classes. Most interns have a grade point average of over 3.0
• The intern program is affiliated with Lee Honors College. Since 1991, the Lee Honors College and the Department of Political Science have jointly worked together on the Lansing Capital Intern Program. If you are a member of the Lee Honors College you may be able to join our spring program without having had previous political science classes.
• To pursue the spring program, make an appointment to see Fred Schaible, Assistant Vice President for Government Relations and Interim Director of the Capital Intern Program. You do not need to have a clear idea of what you want to do, instead think about the courses that most interest you and the areas of law and politics about which you would like to learn more.

Requirements for Interns–During Your Internship

• The Capital Intern Program requires all day Tuesdays and Thursdays for the duration of the semester. Two vans are available for 20 students to go to Lansing each spring. There is no cost to the intern for travel on these vehicles to Lansing. 
• All internships are for between 1 and 4 credit hours that are determined by the number of hours worked in the placement. Written assignments are included as a part of the required work.
• You will not receive a letter grade for an internship (PSCI 3900). The evaluation is on a credit or no credit basis.
• The Capital Intern Program requires that students also enroll in the Internship Seminar during the spring semester (PSCI 3910). This 3 credit course meets on Monday afternoons from 4 to 6:20 p.m.
• Usually you do not get paid as an intern. Most offices are looking to give you an experience while you earn credit hours. However, each year some students at the end of the internship are offered a full-time job while some others are offered summer employment. Most interns seek to get job experience and they are not looking to get immediate employment.

Professor Foley

Dr. Lauren Foley has a J.D. and a Ph.D. in political science. She is the author of On the Basis of Race: How Higher Education Navigates Affirmative Action Policies, (NYU Press, forthcoming 2023). Her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, Studies in Law, Politics, and Society and the Journal of Law and Education. She was admitted into the Michigan Bar Association in 2009.

She has experience as an intern herself working for non-profit legal counsel and a Michigan Supreme Court justice while in law school. Her internship influenced her legal education and profoundly shaped the research agenda she would eventually pursue in her Ph.D.

In 2024-25, Fred Schaible will serve as Interim Director of the Capital Intern Program. A former Capital Intern himself, Fred serves as WMU's Assistant Vice President for Government Relations.

Questions?

Contact the Department of Political Science with questions about our internship programs.