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Washington Program in National Issues (WPNI)

Each spring the Political Science Department and the Kent State Alumni Office sponsor WPNI. Qualified juniors and seniors spend the entire semester in Washington, D.C., where they participate in an internship; attend briefings with government, corporate, and interest group officials; and engage in individualized research. Although open to students regardless of major, political science students particularly benefit from the firsthand experiences provided by the program. Students earn 15 upper-division hours of political science credit for the semester. A descriptive brochure and application forms are available from the Political Science Department.

Professor Mark Cassell is the WPNI Director, and interested students should contact him to learn more about the program (mcassell@kent.edu).

Columbus Program in State Issues (CPSI)

The Columbus Program in State Issues is a fall semester program. Qualified juniors and seniors spend the entire semester in the state capital, Columbus, where they participate in an internship; attend briefings with government, corporate, and interest group officials; and engage in individualized research. Although open to students regardless of major, political science students particularly benefit from the firsthand experiences provided by the program. Students earn 15 upper-division hours of political science credit for the semester.

Professor Wendy Patton is the CPSI Director, and interested students should contact her to learn more about the program (wpatton4@kent.edu).

Other internship opportunities

Students often seek out other internship opportunities for a 3-credit option. Political science students have interned with local congressional offices, think tanks and research institutes, political party organizations, law firms, businesses and nonprofit organizations. See a partial list of places where our students have interned, along with the internship form students must complete in order to receive credit for relevant work. If you are interested in pursuing a 3-credit internship, please email Professor Michael Ensley (mensley@kent.edu) for more information.