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Robert M. La Follette
School of Public Affairs
1225 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706

Telephone: 608.262.3581
Fax: 608.265.3233

Last updated:
August 24, 2011

Career Development

Internship Summaries Fall 2010-Spring 2011

Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, Program and Policy Analyst
Wisconsin Homeland Security Council, Assistant
National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education, Policy Assistant
Legislative Internship with Representative Fred Clark, Intern
Child Health Advocacy Center, American Family Children’s Hospital
Michael Fields Agriculture Institute
Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Budget and Policy Analysis Intern
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Wisconsin State Assembly

1. Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, Program and Policy Analyst

During the fall semester, I was a program and policy analyst for the State of Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) in the Commissioner’s Unit. My general ongoing duties were primarily related to federal health care reform implementation, requiring me to stay abreast of law and policy changes, as well as trends in other states, and to keep agency leadership up to date on the issues. Specifically, I managed the agency’s application for a federal grant, and after receiving the grant award, helped coordinate the implementation of the grant program. I also worked on state policy issues, including two social and financial impact statements analyzing the effects of two new insurance coverage mandates. Additionally, I had the opportunity to observe the rulemaking process by staffing stakeholder subgroups for two administrative rules.

This internship has been a fantastic experience for me. It has given me the opportunity to apply concepts from the classroom and has provided me with valuable, practical, real-world experience. I gained insight into the workings of both state and federal government, working with key players on interesting and controversial issues of policy.

The work environment was friendly and supportive, and I had daily contact with top-level managers. I would highly recommend looking at OCI for a potential internship to any La Follette student interested in health or insurance policy, especially in light of the policy challenges OCI will be addressing related to health care reform implementation.

2. Wisconsin Homeland Security Council, Assistant

Starting in August, I began serving as an intern for the Wisconsin Homeland Security Council. The Council is responsible for advising the Governor on homeland security issues and for coordinating state and local prevention and response efforts in case of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. It meets once a month and consists of members from various state agencies.

As an intern for the council, I performed all of the administrative tasks associated with the monthly meetings, including taking minutes during the meetings. Attending the meetings was a valuable experience, as I witnessed homeland security issues being discussed by influential people from different agencies, and the steps that they were recommending to mitigate any threats against Wisconsin.
In addition to performing administrative tasks for the Council, I also worked on various topics related to emergency management for my supervisor. This included doing research, constructing PowerPoint presentations, and helping to write both an annual report for the Council, as well as a Final Report on the Council for the new governor.

This experience gave me a glimpse inside of state government, and what it is like to be part of a network that crosses the boundaries between state agencies. In addition, this internship served as a great means for networking, as I was in regular contact with representatives from multiple state agencies.

3. National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education, Policy Assistant

During the spring of 2010, I served as a Policy Assistant for the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE). Working on a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, I researched transportation issues that will arise from the aging of the baby boomer population. My research encompassed four tasks. First, I assessed current specialized and public transit practices in the state of Wisconsin and identified emerging and persistent issues. Second, I helped conduct demographic analysis to ascertain geographic problem areas. Third, I coordinated the distribution of 20,000 surveys and helped host several focus groups to gauge the transportation habits and needs of older residents. Finally, I reviewed international and national best practices to formulate recommendations for policy improvements. If implemented, these recommendations will improve the efficiency and quality of senior-focused transportation programs in Wisconsin.

4. Legislative Internship with Representative Fred Clark, Intern

This past spring I interned in the office of Representative Fred Clark. This internship began shortly before the protests in response to the Budget Repair Bill began and ended with the Representative’s announcement that he would be running for senate as in one of the recall elections. Needless to say, our intern team had a unique experience. Though initially our intern team anticipated doing many policy analyses for the Representative, the sheer amount of constituent concern and interest in the current legislation took center stage. As a result, the primary duty of this internship was to help Representative Fred Clark’s staff manage constituent contacts, whether they required an informative letter, an explanation of a vote, policy analysis or bill drafting. Much of our time was spent researching bill proposals and reaching out to state agencies for further information and writing up detailed responses. This provided a great opportunity to connect with many Wisconsinites and hear a variety of points of view while learning a vast amount about Wisconsin legislation in a short period of time.

Additional duties included policy analyses and bill proposals on behalf of constituents. I had the opportunity to work on one of each, which allowed for further investigation of specific issues in comparison to existing legislation, as well as an opportunity to build a deeper relationship with the team of constituents, staffers and state employees working to draft the bill together. This was one of the most rewarding aspects of the internship.

Lastly, our team had the pleasure of working in an office during am exciting time of transition. Now, we all have the opportunity to volunteer in a separate capacity to work on the campaign. The staffers who supervised us were really intelligent, friendly and good at their jobs. With their guidance, I learned much about the legislative process in four short months.

5. Child Health Advocacy Center, American Family Children’s Hospital

Since January, I have worked as a Special Project Assistant in the Child Health Advocacy Center, a department of American Family Children’s Hospital. Advocacy departments are quite common in health care systems, particularly children’s hospitals, and at American Family Children’s Hospital, the Advocacy Center’s core mission revolves around child safety, obesity prevention, oral health, and literacy. In addition, the Advocacy Center partners with community organizations, such as the Ronald McDonald Foundation, to maximize its effectiveness as an advocacy organization. Through this experience, I have been exposed to a variety of issues pertinent to health care systems in general and children’s hospitals in particular. I interacted with a wide variety of individuals from departments including administration, government relations, public affairs, and marketing. Specifically, though, my core tasks involved assisting in the continued development of the Advocacy Center, which was established in November of 2010 as a stand-alone department within the children’s hospital. My first task as a member of the department was to develop a “legislative toolkit” that informs interested individuals about the legislative process and how to best affect policy change for the betterment of children’s health in Wisconsin. This task alone required me to interact with leadership in Government Relations, the Office of Legal Counsel, E-Health Solutions (the “electronic arm” of the health system), and community advocates. In addition, I worked on a project in conjunction with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to develop a “State of Wisconsin’s Children” report, which provides a brief overview of issues pertinent to children’s health and is to be published later this year.

6. Michael Fields Agriculture Institute

Interning with the Michael Fields Agriculture Institute (MFAI) excited me because it is one of the few opportunities available to put my interest in sustainable agriculture and local food systems into practical policy use by supporting the sustainable agriculture movement. MFAI began its policy internship program in 2003 as a way “to draw exciting, committed, informed activists into the work of creating and advancing public policies that support sustainable agriculture” (email to author, October 24, 2010).

Throughout the internship I gained experience learning from an expert, Margaret Krome, a well-known and reputable leader in the national sustainable agriculture advocacy field. I spent time learning firsthand about the Food and Farm Bill re-authorization and appropriations process, solidifying the theoretical framework explored during Professor Witte’s Policymaking Process course. The internship provided me with opportunities to understand the political landscape influencing sustainable agriculture policy on both the state and national level. Ultimately, the internship cultivated my interest and knowledge, preparing me to become a leader and advocate in sustainable agriculture upon completing my La Follette M.P.A.

7. Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Budget and Policy Analysis Intern

I was given the responsibility of assessing the fiscal status of the Food Service and Recreational Licensing program for Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Health—Department of Health Services for the state of Wisconsin. The program was established to reduce exposure to environmental and safety hazards in public lodging and recreational areas. Revenues for the program are generated from fees charged to establishments inspected, and while they used to be adequate in covering program costs, they have not been reassessed or increased in over 3 years. With costs continuing to rise annually, the FSRL program has developed a significant deficit that continues to grow each year.

I began the project by looking at the cost side of the program. To get a multiple year analysis I started in FY 2008 and analyzed through mid FY 2011 (December 2010). Using the Department of Health Service’s Fiscal Management System (FMS) I pulled queries for each month, by regional office. I used expenditure code definitions to decode, and allocate each transaction of the query to a general budget line based on where it had been spent. At the end, each regional office in the state of Wisconsin had a spreadsheet for fiscal year 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, divided down by afore mentioned budget lines. Combining spreadsheets, I had a fiscal report on each RO for each fiscal year for the entirety of account 124. In addition, I analyzed the cost of each sanitarian (and an average approximate sanitarian cost) to the individual regional offices, and how much the support staff cost per sanitarian by office (seen in attached spreadsheets). Results indicated that most budget categories saw significant percent increases in cost from 2008 to 2009 and 2009 to 2010. This data will be used to indicate ways in which the program can best cut costs or generate revenue to balance the budget.

8. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

This semester, I interned with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI). Although I worked with the School Management Services Team, most of my internship was spent supporting the Educator Effectiveness Design Team. The Design Team was formed by the State Superintendent and tasked with developing a new teacher evaluation system for Wisconsin. As an intern, I researched other evaluation systems throughout the country. I then selected four systems for an in-depth analysis, focusing on the aspects about which the Design Team was most curious. I shared my research with the Design Team at their meetings as well as with DPI leadership at a formal presentation.

Overall, I am thankful that I had the opportunity to work with the School Management Services Team as well as the Design Team. I was able to see how multiple stakeholders, who are passionate about education, can work together to create a system to the benefit of students. I increased my understanding of what it takes to create an effective teacher evaluation system as well as the new initiatives that focus on improving teacher quality. I also greatly enjoyed working with the staff at DPI. This experience has given me a clearer picture as to what I am passionate about and what opportunities I want to pursue in the future.

9. Wisconsin State Assembly

My internship with Representative Fred Clark was likely atypical of internships at the State Capitol in previous semesters. Special Sessions Senate Bill 11 (SSSB11), or the “Budget Repair Bill,” was proposed weeks after I started the internship. Shortly thereafter, the Capitol became inundated---inside and out---with hundreds of protesters every day for nearly a month. As a result, I spent a lot of time on constituent response to SSSB11 in various forms of communication: phone calls, in-person office visits, e-mail, and paper mail. Besides responding to questions and comments about the Budget Repair Bill, I also answered questions about other pieces of legislation on a wide variety of subjects (such as rooftop access safety laws, wind turbine regulations, and legislative partisanship). In most cases, in order to thoroughly answer their questions, thorough research about the policy topic was required. I probably learned the most from the internship by doing this research, which included combing through legislation, calling subject matter experts and chatting with other staff at the Capitol. One final task I did at the Capitol that was exciting for me was drafting a Resolution that was passed in the State Legislature. It wasn’t a major piece of legislation, but it was very rewarding to see the words I wrote become part of Wisconsin State history.