Suchergebnisse

November and December were a whirlwind for the Congressional Fellows as they attended back-to-back orientation sessions and interviewed for positions on the Hill. Now that they have secured full-time assignments as legislative aides, they have begun turning their attention to the yearly Canadian Parliamentary Exchange. Hardly had a description left Program Director Jeff Biggs' mouth before emails were flying on how best to plan the Canadians' visit to Washington. True to form, the political scientists established steering committees with names like "The Political Scientist Committee," "The Federal Committee," "The Journalist Committee," "The Entertainment Committee," and "The Miscellaneous Committee." Meanwhile, the journalists began to brainstorm and sketch out a draft schedule—four months in advance. Clearly, they were enthused.

Each September, Director Jeff Biggs flips through his vast mental Rolodex in search of
speakers for the November orientation. Based on his list, he knits a tentative schedule and
sends letters of invitation requesting that individuals participate on such-and-such a date.
To our continual surprise and gratification, this tactic almost always works. When speakers
must decline, our presumption is usually rewarded with generosity as speakers offer their
expertise for another occasion. Thus, despite the logistical difficulty of bringing together
over 80 experts, a coherent, informative, and often entertaining orientation emerges in time
for each new class of Fellows. The 2004–2005 orientation was no exception.

As the APSA Congressional Fellowship Program enters its fiftieth year, it welcomes the 2002-2003 class of fellows, who will join more than 1900 alumni since 1953 in gaining a "hands-on" understanding of Congress. While the fellowship was first founded so that political scientists and journalists could transmit their legislative experiences to the classroom and to the public, it has since expanded to share the benefits of such study to other professional fields. These are represented by the Federal Executive and Foreign Affairs fellows, Robert Wood Johnson health policy fellows, Native American Hatfield fellows, Carl Albert fellows, American Sociological Association fellows, and by the international scholars sponsored by the Senior Fulbright Scholars program, the Asia Foundation, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Now half a century old, the Congressional Fellowship Program continues to benefit from the generosity of Congressional Quarterly, Inc., the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and MCI.