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CASNR offers a unique internship ByRachel
Young
For
the past 26 years, the Oklahoma House and Senate agricultural committees
have hosted one intern from theCollege
of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources to be an active participant
in the spring legislative session. CASNR
is the only college in Oklahoma with an internship that gives students
the opportunity to work with entire committees at the state capitol. A majority
of the intern's time is spent taking notes, doing research and getting
a chance to be part of the nuts and bolts of daily activities, said
state Sen. Paul Muegge of the Senate agriculture and rural development
committee. Interns
are able to participate in various daily tasks to get a taste of what
is going on behind the office doors of elected officials. "I
was able to do a lot of different things, including working with bills
and policy, working with constituency groups and doing research and
bill summaries," said Ryan McMullen, 2001 legislative intern. "I
had a number of networking opportunities that will be a great help in
the future."
"Until
I started this internship, I didn't realize all the important affects
the governmental processes have on me," said Penick. This
internship is not designed to prepare students for a political career,
said Muegge. Although it is good experience for those who wish to run
for an elected office, interns make their own decisions in regard to
their future careers. Most of them tend to stay in the field of agriculture
because of where they come from, he said. "Farming
is good training for politics because you never know what is going to
happen the next day in either profession," said Muegge. In
the case of this internship, an agricultural background can simply be
used as a springboard to help relate to people, said Penick. "I
don't know what percentage of the bills passed have a direct impact
on agriculture in a state like Oklahoma, but it is quite a few,"
said Ed Miller, CASNR associate dean. "If you consider all of the
bills passed that have at least an indirect influence on agriculture,
it would be the majority." The
agricultural legislative internship also gives students the unique chance
to add the views of the younger generation to the legislative process. "My
philosophy is that when our founders created this government they wanted
to create legislative bodies that represented the entire population,"
said McMullen. "It is important to have doctors, lawyers, farmers
and businessmen, but at the same time, a diverse age range is needed.
It's healthy to have the opinions of all ages when making important
decisions that affect all of us." Currently,
only one intern is selected for each spring legislative term. However,
there is room for growth within this program, and it would be possible
to support more than one intern at a time in the future, said Miller.
It depends on having legislators who are willing to nurture the interns
and having private funds to support the interns' expenses, he said. The
application process is a competitive one, said McMullen. The intern
is selected by a committee based on the applications, résumés
and interviews. A student
who is serious about becoming the legislative intern needs to have good
communication skills, be professional and should be involved in campus
activities, said state Rep. James Covey of the House agriculture and
rural development committee. "The
interns really have to be self-motivated; they will have a lot of time
on their hands at the capitol when not much is going on," said
Miller. "So they could either sit in their office and read magazines
or they could go down to the library, talk to lobbyists or even talk
to legislators not involved with the agricultural committees to learn
more about their other interests." The
internship requires the student to take the spring semester off and
move to Oklahoma City. The student participating in the spring 2002
internship received three credit hours and a $3,200 scholarship from
several sponsors. A sophomore
or junior level student is usually preferred for this internship. Applications
are available by mid-September in 136 Agricultural Hall and are due
back at the end of October. After
the applications have been reviewed, the top candidates for the position
are selected to go through an interview process. The interview process
consists of a group interview with the associate dean, assistant dean,
director of student career services, coordinator of academic programs
and the previous intern. The
intern we choose for this position is highly visible, said Miller. "We
have to remember the legislators' view of our college is often shaped
by that one intern," said Miller. "The person we choose is
a representative of our entire college." Jami
McAnulty Longacre, 1993 agricultural economics graduate, was the agricultural
legislative intern in the spring of 1992. She credits her success after
college to this internship experience. "My
experience as a legislative intern absolutely laid the foundation for
my current career as a lobbyist," said Longacre. "I had no
idea what I wanted to do after college before I had this opportunity." Longacre
said the contacts she made during her internship resulted in many of
her career opportunities. The
benefits of this legislative internship can be evaluated both by the
knowledge gained and the valuable connections that can be made. "The
most exciting part of this experience was the people I got to work with,"
said McMullen. "I was impressed with the dedication of our elected
officials and staff." This
internship program has been made successful through the hard work and
cooperation of OSU and the agricultural legislators. "We
have donors who believe in this program," said Miller. "It
is a long-term investment; people realize these students will understand
the agricultural legislative processes and someday become leaders." With the goal of creating great leaders, CASNR and the House and Senate agriculture and rural development committees are working to help students gain a promising future. |
If
people were more involved and understood the legislative processes better,
they would realize the impact the government has on their lives, said
Mary Penick, 2002 legislative intern.